thicket

noun

thick·​et ˈthi-kət 

1

: a dense growth of shrubbery or small trees : copse

2

: something resembling a thicket in density or impenetrability : tangle

a political thicket

a thicket of reporters

thickety

ˈthi-kə-tē 

adjective

Synonyms

• boscage
• boskage
• bosk
• bosque
• bosquet
• brake
• brushwood
• chaparral
• coppice
• copse
• covert

Examples of thicket in a Sentence

a dense thicket of rosebushes

flushed a pheasant from a thicket of willows

Recent Examples on the Web

When Viktor’s infantry unit first arrived here, thickets of oak and birch trees lined the grassy fields. —Mari Saito, USA TODAY, 30 May 2024

The banks were lined with garden plots—quadrants of onion, pepper, and tomatoes, drooping banana orchards, and thickets of sugar cane. —J.r. Patterson, Condé Nast Traveler, 11 Dec. 2023

But despite its clean bill of health and demonstrable unity, NATO faces a thicket of thorny issues, and discussions in Madrid will only just begin to address them. —Charles A. Kupchan, Foreign Affairs, 29 June 2022

The city’s wild thicket of street vendors serves as the setting for the show’s central tragedy. —Hugh Hart, Los Angeles Times, 11 June 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English *thikket, from Old English thiccet, from thicce thick

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

thicket

noun

thick·​et ˈthik-ət 

1

: a thick usually small patch of shrubbery, small trees, or underbrush

2

: something resembling a thicket in being crowded together or impenetrable

a thicket of fans