Stringency and Sparse

noun

• A state occasioned by scarcity of money and a shortage of credit.
  • synonyms: tightness
• Conscientious attention to rules and details.
  • synonyms: strictness

adjective

• Not dense.
  • usage: "a thin beard"; "trees were sparse"
  • synonyms: thin

• (superl.) Thinly scattered; set or planted here and there; not being dense or close together; as, a sparse population.
• (v.t.) To scatter; to disperse.
• (superl.) Placed irregularly and distantly; scattered; -- applied to branches, leaves, peduncles, and the like.