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

Depending on the species, privet hedges can be aggressive invaders that form dense thickets that shade nearby native plants. —Sj McShane, Martha Stewart, 5 Apr. 2026

While not thorns, these foliar teeth can take a bite out of those who attempt to cross a thicket of torch aloes. —Joshua Siskin, Oc Register, 4 Apr. 2026

Could Iran end up like Libya, where a NATO air campaign in 2011 helped topple a decades-old dictatorship, but paved the way for the disintegration of the Libyan state into a thicket of rival factions and warring militias? —Ishaan Tharoor, New Yorker, 30 Mar. 2026

The seedlings and saplings are mostly knee-high to chest-high and mixed with thickets of ceanothus and other post-fire brush growing amid the true giants that stand dead among them. —Los Angeles Times, 13 Mar. 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