Thickset

//ˈθɪkˌsɛt// adj, noun

adj, noun ·Common ·High school level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A thick hedge. countable, obsolete

    "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."

  2. 2
    A stout, twilled cotton cloth; a fustian corduroy, or velveteen. historical, uncountable

    "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;"

  3. 3
    A piece of clothing made from this fabric. countable, historical

    "[…] his coat was originally what is called a thickset, but out at the elbows;"

Adjective
  1. 1
    Having a relatively short, heavy build.

    "a thickset, muscular figure"

  2. 2
    Densely crowded together; made up of things that are densely crowded together; closely planted.

    "a thickset wood"

  3. 3
    Densely covered (with something).

    "a gully thickset with brambles"

Adjective
  1. 1
    planted or growing close together wordnet
  2. 2
    having a short and solid form or stature wordnet

Example

More examples

"In the morning of the 5th of February of 2022, on my way to the pizzeria and cafe, I saw a good-looking man in black clothing and black baseball cap, as he was vaping near the pub and carrying a box of cups of coffee. At the cafe, a strong, thickset man in black entered to get his coffee."

Etymology

From thick + set.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.