"Sparse" refers to something that is thinly dispersed or scattered. It often describes environments, materials, or data that lack density or fullness. For example, a sparse forest has few trees spread out over a large area, allowing for more open space between them. In data analysis, "sparse" can refer to datasets that contain many empty or zero values. A sparse matrix is a mathematical representation where most of the elements are zero, making it efficient to store and process. This concept is important in fields like machine learning and statistics, where handling large datasets effectively is crucial.