What does thicket mean?
A thicket is a dense mass of bushes, shrubs, or small trees growing closely together. The word evokes an almost impassable stretch of vegetation, such as a tangled patch of brambles or a screen of young woodland growth. It can also be used figuratively for a complicated mass of people, facts, problems, or proposals: a bureaucracy may be described as a thicket of procedures, for example. Although thicket does not imply that the vegetation is particularly large, the concentration of growth often makes the place difficult to enter or see through. In literary contexts, the word carries a slightly mysterious or even threatening quality because a thicket can conceal animals, people, or an uncertain path. In ordinary geographical description it remains precise and useful, distinguishing a dense patch of undergrowth from an individual shrub or a larger wood.
nounA dense group of bushes, shrubs, or small trees growing closely together. Figuratively, it can refer to a tangled or complicated mass of things.
- A dense group of bushes, shrubs, or small trees growing closely together.
- A tangled mass or complicated concentration of things, used figuratively.
"The fox disappeared into the thicket without a sound."
"We followed the narrow trail until it led into a thicket of brambles."
"The committee became a thicket of competing proposals and unresolved objections."
The regular plural is formed by adding -s.
"The abandoned gardens had become a maze of thickets and tangled hedges."
From Old English roots, thicket has always meant a place where growing things are thick—and where a path may suddenly disappear.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of thicket
Thicket descends from Middle English thikket and ultimately from Old English þicce, meaning a dense group of bushes or trees. The Old English word was related to þicol, the source of modern thick. Cognates survive in other Germanic languages, including Dutch diket and German Dickicht, both meaning thicket.
How thicket is actually used
The literal sense is standard in British and American English. The figurative sense is somewhat literary and conveys crowding, obstruction, or complexity.
Easily confused with thicket
A thicket is a dense mass of vegetation, whereas a ticket is a document or card granting admission, travel, or participation.