thick
EnglishEdit
Alternative formsEdit
- (meme slang: curvy): thicc
EtymologyEdit
From Middle English thicke, from Old English þicce (“thick, dense”), from Proto-Germanic *þekuz (“thick”), from Proto-Indo-European *tégus (“thick”). Cognate with Danish tyk (“thick”), Dutch dik (“thick”), Faroese tjúkkur (“thick”), German dick (“thick”), Icelandic þykkur (“thick”), Norwegian Bokmål tykk (“thick”), Norwegian Nynorsk tjukk (“thick”), Saterland Frisian tjuk (“thick”), Swedish tjock (“thick”). Related to Old Irish tiug (“thick”) and Welsh tew (“thick”).
PronunciationEdit
Audio (file) - enPR: thĭk
- (Received Pronunciation, General American, General Australian) IPA(key): /θɪk/
- (General New Zealand) IPA(key): /θɘk/
Audio (US): [θe̞k] (file) - Rhymes: -ɪk
AdjectiveEdit
thick (comparative thicker, superlative thickest)
- Relatively great in extent from one surface to the opposite in its smallest solid dimension.
- Synonyms: broad; see also Thesaurus:wide
- Antonyms: slim, thin; see also Thesaurus:narrow
- 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 17, in The China Governess[1]:
- The face which emerged was not reassuring. It was blunt and grey, the nose springing thick and flat from high on the frontal bone of the forehead, whilst his eyes were narrow slits of dark in a tight bandage of tissue. […].
- Measuring a certain number of units in this dimension.
- I want some planks that are two inches thick.
- Heavy in build; thickset.
- Synonyms: chunky, solid, stocky, thickset
- Antonyms: slender, slight, slim, svelte, thin; see also Thesaurus:slender
- 2007, Knight, James T., Queen of the Hustle:
- As she twirled around in front of the mirror admiring how the dress showed off her thick booty, she felt like a princess in a children's storybook.
- 2009, Kenny Attaway, Nuthouse Love, page 82:
- JJ loved “average hood girls”, Cody loved dark-skinned thick girls and Mooch lusted for yellow-boned skinny woman.
- He had such a thick neck that he had to turn his body to look to the side.
- Densely crowded or packed.
- Synonyms: crowded, dense, packed; see also Thesaurus:compact
- Antonyms: sparse; see also Thesaurus:diffuse
- 1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, chapter 3, in Mr. Pratt's Patients:
- My hopes wa'n't disappointed. I never saw clams thicker than they was along them inshore flats. I filled my dreener in no time, and then it come to me that 'twouldn't be a bad idee to get a lot more, take 'em with me to Wellmouth, and peddle 'em out. Clams was fairly scarce over that side of the bay and ought to fetch a fair price.
- We walked through thick undergrowth.
- Having a viscous consistency.
- Synonyms: glutinous, viscous; see also Thesaurus:viscous
- Antonyms: free-flowing, runny; see also Thesaurus:runny
- My mum’s gravy was thick but at least it moved about.
- Abounding in number.
- Synonyms: overflowing, swarming, teeming; see also Thesaurus:plentiful
- Antonyms: scant, scarce, slight
- The room was thick with reporters.
- Impenetrable to sight.
- Synonyms: dense, opaque, solid; see also Thesaurus:opaque
- Antonyms: thin, transparent; see also Thesaurus:transparent
- We drove through thick fog.
- (Of an accent) Prominent, strong.
- Greatly evocative of one's nationality or place of origin.
- He answered me in his characteristically thick Creole patois.
- Difficult to understand, or poorly articulated.
- Synonyms: unclear; see also Thesaurus:incomprehensible
- Antonyms: clear, lucid; see also Thesaurus:comprehensible
- We had difficulty understanding him with his thick accent.
- Greatly evocative of one's nationality or place of origin.
- (informal) Stupid.
- Synonyms: dense, dumb (informal), stupid, thick as pigshit (taboo slang), thick as two short planks (slang); see also Thesaurus:stupid
- Antonyms: brainy (informal), intelligent, smart; see also Thesaurus:intelligent
- He was as thick as two short planks.
- (informal) Friendly or intimate.
- Synonyms: chummy (UK, informal), close, close-knit, friendly, pally (informal), intimate, tight-knit
- Antonym: unacquainted
- They were as thick as thieves.
- 1859, Thomas Hughes, The Scouring of the White Horse
- Jem is a tall, good-looking fellow, as old as I am, and that's twenty-one last birthday; we came into the office together years ago, and have been very thick ever since
- Deep, intense, or profound.
- (Britain, dated) troublesome; unreasonable
- 1969 Anita Leslie, Lady Randolph Churchill, New York, Charles Scribner's Sons, page 288:
- "Of course I was eager to put her affairs in order," George told my father, "but I found it a bit thick when expected to pay for Lord Randolph Churchill's barouche purchased in the '80s."
- 1969 Anita Leslie, Lady Randolph Churchill, New York, Charles Scribner's Sons, page 288:
- (slang, chiefly of women) Curvy and voluptuous, and especially having large hips.
- Synonyms: see Thesaurus:voluptuous
- 1991, “Baby Got Back”, in Mack Daddy, performed by Sir Mix-a-Lot:
- A word to the thick soul sistas, I want to get with ya
Derived termsEdit
terms derived from thick (adjective)
TranslationsEdit
relatively great in extent from one surface to another
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measuring a certain number of units in this dimension
heavy in build
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densely crowded or packed
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having a viscous consistency
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abounding in number
impenetrable to sight
difficult to understand, poorly articulated
informal: stupid
AdverbEdit
thick (comparative thicker, superlative thickest)
- In a thick manner.
- Snow lay thick on the ground.
- Frequently or numerously.
- The arrows flew thick and fast around us.
TranslationsEdit
in a thick manner
NounEdit
thick (plural thicks)
- The thickest, or most active or intense, part of something.
- It was mayhem in the thick of battle.
- 1700, [John] Dryden, “Palamon and Arcite: Or, The Knight’s Tale. In Three Books.”, in Fables Ancient and Modern; […], London: Printed for Jacob Tonson, […], OCLC 228732415:
- He through a little window cast his sight / Through thick of bars, that gave a scanty light.
- A thicket.
- 1612, Michael Drayton, “(please specify the chapter)”, in [John Selden], editor, Poly-Olbion. Or A Chorographicall Description of Tracts, Riuers, Mountaines, Forests, and Other Parts of this Renowned Isle of Great Britaine, […], London: […] H[umphrey] L[ownes] for Mathew Lownes; I. Browne; I. Helme; I. Busbie, published 1613, OCLC 1049089293:
- gloomy thicks
- 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Qveene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for VVilliam Ponsonbie, OCLC 960102938, book II, canto III:
- Through the thicke they heard one rudely rush.
- (slang) A stupid person; a fool.
- 2014, Joseph O'Connor, The Thrill of It All, page 100:
- If there was doctorates in bollocksology and scratching yourself in bed, the two of you'd be professors by now. Pair of loafing, idle thicks.
Derived termsEdit
TranslationsEdit
most active or intense part of something
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
VerbEdit
thick (third-person singular simple present thicks, present participle thicking, simple past and past participle thicked)
- (archaic, transitive, intransitive) To thicken.
- 1595, Edmunde Spenser [i.e., Edmund Spenser], “[Amoretti.] Sonnet 7”, in Amoretti and Epithalamion. […], London: Printed [by Peter Short] for William Ponsonby, OCLC 932931864; reprinted in Amoretti and Epithalamion (The Noel Douglas Replicas), London: Noel Douglas […], 1927, OCLC 474036557:
- A wicked ambush , which lay hidden long In the close covert of her guilful eyen,
Thence breaking forth , did thick about me throng
- 1798, Coleridge, Samuel Taylor, chapter 3, in The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, lines 193–194:
- The nightmare Life-in-death was she, / Who thicks man's blood with cold.
SynonymsEdit
- See also Thesaurus:thicken