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

This native shrub ranges from five to 15 feet high and will slowly form thickets if allowed. —Erica Browne Grivas, Better Homes & Gardens, 3 Dec. 2024

Across the garden, Corley, in headphones, held a professional recording device up to another thicket of reeds. —Oren Peleg, The New Yorker, 26 Aug. 2024

The best part of the farm itself was a dirt track that led from the back of the house to the edge of the property to a creek that ran swiftly through a dense thicket of trees. —Lizz Schumer, People.com, 26 Nov. 2024

Gradually forests and bogs give way to more salt-tolerant thickets. —Doyle Rice, USA TODAY, 31 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