'thinly-attended' originates from the combination of 'thinly' and 'attended', where 'thinly' means 'in a sparse manner' and 'attended' means 'to be present'.

'Thinly-attended' combines the adverb 'thinly' with the past participle 'attended', forming a compound adjective.

Initially, it meant 'having few people present', and this meaning has remained consistent in modern usage.