not in use; esp reserved for use in emergency
a spare tyre
in excess of what is required; surplus
not taken up with work or duties; free
spare time
plain and unelaborate, uncluttered, or concise
a spare prose style
healthily lean; wiry
informal not abundant; meagre
go spare
Brit, informal to become extremely angry or distraught
sparely adv
spareness noun
[Old English spær scarce, meagre, frugal, hence in Middle English ‘thriftily set aside for future use’, leading in the 16th cent. to ‘left over, surplus’]