Thicket
noun /ˈθɪkɪt/ — A dense growth of shrubs or small trees — the landscape's version of a complicated sentence.
Definition
A dense group of shrubs, bushes, or small trees growing close together, forming an impenetrable or difficult-to-navigate mass.
Beyond the definition
A thicket is landscape that resists — you cannot walk through it easily. The word applies beautifully to problems: a thicket of regulations, a thicket of competing obligations. The image always implies: you'll need to find another way around.
Origin & history
From Old English thiccet — dense growth (from thicce: thick). The thick place — where the growth has decided it will not be easy.
Example sentences
Illustrative sentences for learning, not verified community posts or sourced quotations.
The path disappeared into a thicket and they had to push through, emerging scratched but through.
The legal thicket surrounding the contract took three months to navigate.
A thicket of metaphors: the kind of writing that is technically dense with image but practically impossible to follow.
How to use it
This entry uses a noun. Follow the examples for articles and singular or plural forms; not every noun takes “a” or “an.”
Choose “Thicket” when the meaning fits your context: A dense group of shrubs, bushes, or small trees growing close together, forming an impenetrable or difficult-to-navigate mass.
Synonyms
undergrowth, brush, brake, copse, scrub, tangle
Antonyms
clearing, glade, open ground
Related words
Word in the Wild
See how this word appears in life, language and stories.
Illustrative sentences and imagined stories for learning — not verified sightings, interviews, or sourced quotations.
Fictional scene
Trees in a woodland setting
A broad botanical composition shows a tree with a mix of bare twigs and green leaves in a dense setting.
The close growth of branches and foliage in a woodland serves as an analogy for a thicket, a dense group of trees that are difficult to navigate through.
Image credit: Wordspun · AI-generated conceptual illustration
Questions about this word
What does "Thicket" mean?
Thicket is noun meaning: A dense growth of shrubs or small trees — the landscape's version of a complicated sentence.. A dense group of shrubs, bushes, or small trees growing close together, forming an impenetrable or difficult-to-navigate mass.
Where does the word "Thicket" come from?
From Old English thiccet — dense growth (from thicce: thick). The thick place — where the growth has decided it will not be easy.