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

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

Examples of thicket in a Sentence

a dense thicket of rosebushes

flushed a pheasant from a thicket of willows

Recent Examples on the Web

For months, Democrats have been wandering in a thicket of words. —Jamie Malanowski, Air Mail, 21 June 2025

In early January, Nadia emerges from the last thicket. —Joseph O’Neill, The New Yorker, 23 Feb. 2025

Fabrice Pothier, then NATO’s director of policy planning, told me that officials confronted a thicket of bureaucracy and regulations governing the movement of military equipment across European borders. —Joshua Yaffa, New Yorker, 23 June 2025

Years of research poke holes in that idea, and buyers navigating a thicket of add-on dealer costs would disagree. —Orlando Sentinel, The Orlando Sentinel, 28 May 2025

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