at a premium vs sparse

at a premium

prep
  • At a high, or higher than expected, price. 

  • Scarce, in short supply. 

  • Above par value. 

sparse

adj
  • Having few nonzero elements 

  • Having widely spaced intervals. 

  • Not dense; meager; scanty 

How often have the words at a premium and sparse occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )