diff --git a/NAMESPACE b/NAMESPACE
index 297f482..b248cd6 100644
--- a/NAMESPACE
+++ b/NAMESPACE
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ export(as_sparse_logical)
 export(coerce_to_sparse_data_frame)
 export(coerce_to_sparse_matrix)
 export(coerce_to_sparse_tibble)
+export(has_sparse_elements)
 export(is_sparse_character)
 export(is_sparse_double)
 export(is_sparse_integer)
diff --git a/R/has_sparse_elements.R b/R/has_sparse_elements.R
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..634d28c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/R/has_sparse_elements.R
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+#' Check for sparse elements
+#' 
+#' This function checks to see if a data.frame, tibble or list contains one or
+#' more sparse vectors.
+#' 
+#' @param x a data frame, tibble, or list.
+#'
+#' @details
+#' The checking in this function is done using [is_sparse_vector()], but is 
+#' implemented using an early exit pattern to provide fast performance for wide
+#' data.frames.
+#' 
+#' This function does not test whether `x` is a data.frame, tibble or list. It
+#' simply iterates over the elements and sees if they are sparse vectors.
+#' 
+#' @return A single logical value.
+#' 
+#' @examplesIf rlang::is_installed("Matrix")
+#' set.seed(1234)
+#' n_cols <- 10000
+#' mat <- matrix(sample(0:1, n_cols * 10, TRUE, c(0.9, 0.1)), ncol = n_cols)
+#' colnames(mat) <- as.character(seq_len(n_cols))
+#' sparse_mat <- Matrix::Matrix(mat, sparse = TRUE)
+#' 
+#' res <- coerce_to_sparse_tibble(sparse_mat)
+#' has_sparse_elements(res)
+#' 
+#' has_sparse_elements(mtcars)
+#' @export
+has_sparse_elements <- function(x) {
+  res <- FALSE
+
+  for (elt in x) {
+    if (is_sparse_vector(elt)) {
+      res <- TRUE
+      break
+    }
+  }
+  res
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/_pkgdown.yml b/_pkgdown.yml
index 9a4d12f..5f8820c 100644
--- a/_pkgdown.yml
+++ b/_pkgdown.yml
@@ -30,3 +30,4 @@ reference:
     contents:
     - type-predicates
     - extractors
+    - has_sparse_elements
diff --git a/man/has_sparse_elements.Rd b/man/has_sparse_elements.Rd
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c06698d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/man/has_sparse_elements.Rd
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+% Generated by roxygen2: do not edit by hand
+% Please edit documentation in R/has_sparse_elements.R
+\name{has_sparse_elements}
+\alias{has_sparse_elements}
+\title{Check for sparse elements}
+\usage{
+has_sparse_elements(x)
+}
+\arguments{
+\item{x}{a data frame, tibble, or list.}
+}
+\value{
+A single logical value.
+}
+\description{
+This function checks to see if a data.frame, tibble or list contains one or
+more sparse vectors.
+}
+\details{
+The checking in this function is done using \code{\link[=is_sparse_vector]{is_sparse_vector()}}, but is
+implemented using an early exit pattern to provide fast performance for wide
+data.frames.
+
+This function does not test whether \code{x} is a data.frame, tibble or list. It
+simply iterates over the elements and sees if they are sparse vectors.
+}
+\examples{
+\dontshow{if (rlang::is_installed("Matrix")) (if (getRversion() >= "3.4") withAutoprint else force)(\{ # examplesIf}
+set.seed(1234)
+n_cols <- 10000
+mat <- matrix(sample(0:1, n_cols * 10, TRUE, c(0.9, 0.1)), ncol = n_cols)
+colnames(mat) <- as.character(seq_len(n_cols))
+sparse_mat <- Matrix::Matrix(mat, sparse = TRUE)
+
+res <- coerce_to_sparse_tibble(sparse_mat)
+has_sparse_elements(res)
+
+has_sparse_elements(mtcars)
+\dontshow{\}) # examplesIf}
+}