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 of thicket

• forest
• copse
• grove
• bush
• brushwood
• coppice
• chaparral
• tangle
• brake
• jungle

Examples of thicket in a Sentence

a dense thicket of rosebushes

flushed a pheasant from a thicket of willows

Recent Examples on the Web

Elk prefer thickets and blowdowns, especially where dense spruce trees grow. — Jim Zumbo, Outdoor Life, 10 Sep. 2026

For the final episode of our 2026 season, Mike talks with Adam Erlich Sachs (recipient of a 2026 Windham-Campbell Prize for Fiction) about the historical Kantian thicket of Heinrich von Kleist’s Michael Kohlhaas, translated by Michael Hoffman. — Literary Hub, 9 Sep. 2026

About 11 years later that house sits near what could become one of the largest power plants in the state, a thicket of gas turbines assembled to feed SpaceXAI’s artificial-intelligence ambitions. — Austyn Gaffney, Scientific American, 9 Sep. 2026

As the novel proceeds, these fragments gradually accumulate, and a whole social world emerges, a thicket of personal connections and memories. — Cynthia Zarin, Harpers Magazine, 1 Sep. 2026

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

Rhymes for thicket

• chicot
• cricket
• picket
• picot
• ticket
• wicket

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