thicket
/ˈθɪkɪt/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.69 in modern English
16
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A dense aggregation of other things, concrete or abstract.
Example Sentences
- "Suddenly from a lumpy tussock of old grass some twenty yards in front of them, with black-tipped ears erect and long hinder limbs throwing it forward, started a hare. It bolted for a thicket of alders."
- "He had to complete a thicket of paperwork before he was allowed to join the company."
- "Hidden behind thickets of acronyms and gorse bushes of detail, a new great game is under way across the globe. Some call it geoeconomics, but it's geopolitics too. The current power play consists of an extraordinary range of countries simultaneously sitting down to negotiate big free trade and investment agreements."
Etymology
Inherited from Middle English *thikket, from Old English þiccet, from þicce (“thick”) + Old English nominal suffix -et. Compare similar German Dickicht (“thicket”), which is first attested in the 17th century, however. Compare typologically Bulgarian гъстак (găstak), Macedonian густеж (gustež), Czech houští, Polish gęstwina (< *gǫstъ); Latin dūmus (akin to Latin dense).
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: *thikket, þiccet, -