clannish

adjective

clan·​nish ˈkla-nish 

1

: of or relating to a clan

clannish traditions

2

: tending to associate only with a select group of similar background or status

a clannish community

clannishly adverb

clannishness noun

Synonyms

• cliquey
• cliquish
• close-knit

Examples of clannish in a Sentence

The college faculty can be pretty clannish, so it's difficult to be an outsider there.

a clannish family that can be rather cool to outsiders

Recent Examples on the Web

Ambassadorships are often awarded to loyalists and supporters, but this appointment looks particularly clannish. —Adriane Quinlan, Curbed, 4 Dec. 2024

The model relies on a dramatic shift in relations among officers and prisoners, two historically warring factions in a system built on clannish gamesmanship for survival. —Tribune News Service, The Mercury News, 29 July 2024

In Afghanistan, legitimate authority has traditionally been highly localized, a product of consensus rather than brute force, and firmly anchored in tribal, clannish, and kinship structures. —Jonah Blank, Foreign Affairs, 19 Aug. 2011

The most successful of those managers have carved out a niche catering to the valley’s famously clannish billionaire elites. —James McClain, Robb Report, 6 Dec. 2023

Word History

First Known Use

1776, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

clannish

adjective

clan·​nish ˈklan-ish 

: tending to associate only with a group of persons like oneself

clannishness noun