Standard Lemma guide

thickset

adj · noun · 8 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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  • /ˈθɪkˌsɛt/

1

adj

Meaning 1

Having a relatively short, heavy build.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • a thickset, muscular figure
  • a thickset workhorse

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: big-boned, stocky, stout, bulbous, corpulent, curvy, Daniel Lambertish, eurysome, famine resistant, gravitationally challenged, horizontally challenged, obese, rotund, round, spherical, big as a house, bloated, blubbery, fat as a cow, fat as a pig, gross, lardy, poddy, porcine, porky, tubby

Antonyms: sleek, slender, slim, svelte, willowy

2

adj

Meaning 2

Densely crowded together; made up of things that are densely crowded together; closely planted.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • a thickset wood
  • a thickset hedge
  • 1581, Thomas Newton (translator), Thebais in Seneca His Tenne Tragedies, London: Thomas Marsh, Act 2, p. 48, [...] let me be allowde To lurke behinde this Craggy Rocke, or els my selfe to hyde On backside of some thickset hedge:
  • 1612, Michael Drayton, Poly-Olbion, London: M. Lownes et al., Song 1, p. 11, [...] Corineus ran With slaughter through the thick-set squadrons of the foes;

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: dense, thick

Antonyms: sparse, thin

3

adj

Meaning 3

Densely covered (with something).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • a gully thickset with brambles
  • 1583, John Foxe, Acts and Monuments, London: John Day, Book 4, “The tragicall historie of Gregorie the vij. otherwise named Hildebrand,” p. 177, [...] in a vessell being thick set with sharpe nayles, he tormented him to the poynt of death:

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

A thick hedge.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, obsolete

Examples

  • 1858, Edward Bulwer-Lytton (as Pisistratus Caxton), What Will He Do with It? Leipzig: Bernhard Tauchnitz, Volume 4, Book 11, Chapter 7, p. 294, Had Darrell been placed amidst the circumstances that make happy the homes of earnest men, Darrell would have been mirthful; had Waife been placed amongst the circumstances that concentrate talent, and hedge round life with trained thicksets and belting laurels, Waife would have been grave.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

noun

Meaning 5

A stout, twilled cotton cloth; a fustian corduroy, or velveteen.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: historical, uncountable

Examples

  • 1812, George Crabbe, Tales, London: J. Hatchard, Tale 4, “Procrastination,” p. 73, When he, with thickset coat of Badge-man’s blue, Moves near her shaded silk of changeful hue;
  • 1829, anonymous contributor, “A Day at Fontainebleau.—The Royal Hunt,” The Monthly Magazine, New Series, Volume 7, No. 37, January 1829, p. 12, His breeches were of the homeliest thickset;

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

6

noun

Meaning 6

A piece of clothing made from this fabric.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, historical

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

7

adjective satellite

Meaning 7

planted or growing close together

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • thickset trees

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

8

adjective satellite

Meaning 8

having a short and solid form or stature

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • a wrestler of compact build
  • he was tall and heavyset
  • stocky legs
  • a thickset young man

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: compact, heavyset, stocky, thick

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From thick + set.

Across languages

Translations

14 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: набит (nabit) — having a short heavy build or stature
  • Finnish: pönäkkä — having a short heavy build or stature
  • German: untersetzt — having a short heavy build or stature
  • German: dicht — having a short heavy build or stature
  • Hungarian: zömök — having a short heavy build or stature
  • Italian: tozzo — having a short heavy build or stature
  • Kabuverdianu: rokotó — having a short heavy build or stature
  • Māori: pūngerungeru — having a short heavy build or stature
  • Turkish: tıknaz — having a short heavy build or stature
  • Turkish: tıkız — having a short heavy build or stature
  • Ottoman Turkish: یوغون (yoğun) — having a short heavy build or stature
  • Ottoman Turkish: ایری (iri) — having a short heavy build or stature
  • Yoruba: síngbọnlẹ̀ — having a short heavy build or stature
  • Bulgarian: гъсто засаден (gǎsto zasaden) — closely planted