few vs smattering

few

• Few people, few things. 

• Obscuring one to two oktas (eighths) of the sky. 

• There are a few cars (=some, but a relatively small number) in the street. 

• An indefinite, but usually small, number of. 

• Not many; a small (in comparison with another number stated or implied) but somewhat indefinite number of. 

• (US?) Having a 10 percent chance of measurable precipitation (0.01 inch); used interchangeably with isolated. 

smattering

• A small number or amount of something. 

• A superficial or shallow knowledge of a subject.