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

Eisenberg is a warm, compassionate guide through a thicket of violence, abrupt endings, and youthful longings, and her book is an intelligent corrective to common true-crime tropes. —Sarah Weinman, The Atlantic, 31 Oct. 2024

Hedden and a colleague approached the Marshes’ property through the woods and discovered a human skull in a thicket. —Sarah Larson, The New Yorker, 28 Oct. 2024

But the group doesn’t need to wade into that thicket. —Bill Adair, TIME, 15 Oct. 2024

To illustrate, Senators have introduced a bill named the Affordable Prescriptions for Patients Act, which aims to limit patent thickets and product hopping. —Joshua P. Cohen, Forbes, 8 Oct. 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