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

Western startups seek to create strong patents at their core and to develop thickets of IP to support them. —Jim Euchner, Forbes, 25 Feb. 2025

The thickets contain police officers, undertakers, insurance agents, attorneys, claims adjusters, benefits counsellors, human-resources workers, notaries, friends. —Joseph O’Neill, The New Yorker, 23 Feb. 2025

But to exempt them, state legislators would need find them in the thicket of Medicaid programs and pathways, and the staff who know this landscape may soon be gone. —Danilyn Rutherford, TIME, 22 Feb. 2025

Moreover, incoming presidents have long vowed to pare back the thicket of government regulation. —Zachary Karabell, Foreign Affairs, 20 Feb. 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