Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- adj. Of, relating to, or characteristic of a clan.
- adj. Inclined to cling together as a group and exclude outsiders.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- Pertaining to a clan; closely united, like a clan; disposed to adhere closely, as the members of a clan.
- Imbued with the prejudices, feelings, sentiments, etc., peculiar to clans; somewhat narrow or restricted in range of social interest and feeling.
Wiktionary
GNU Webster's 1913
- adj. Of or pertaining to a clan; closely united, like a clan; disposed to associate only with one's clan or clique; actuated by the traditions, prejudices, habits, etc., of a clan.
WordNet 3.0
- adj. characteristic of a clan especially in being unified
- adj. befitting or characteristic of those who incline to social exclusiveness and who rebuff the advances of people considered inferior
Etymologies
- clan + -ish (Wiktionary)
Examples
“Italians were thought to be violent criminals; the Hungarians, Russians, Poles, and various others in the late 19 th and early 20th centuries were characterized as clannish, speaking their own languages, and being a threat to "American civilization".”
“Caught between a rock and a hard place, Jews were condemned for clinging too closely to their identity and heritage as Jews, for being "clannish," at the same time that they were denounced as overly aggressive, as social climbers who pushed their way into a society that did not welcome them. 13”
Caught in the Crossfire: Adrian Scott and the Politics of Americanism in 1940s Hollywood
“It's kind of clannish if you'll allow me to us that word.”
“Maybe because I'm kind of clannish myself and live here, although I visit these other sections, but I didn't mingle in them enough to give you what I would consider a very true, educated evaluation.”
“The legal profession in France is far more "clannish" than with us, for lawyers have always played a great part in the history of France.”
“The Morrises were a very "clannish" family, and my grandfather's house was the London centre.”
“As for Mormons, they’re kind of clannish but are quite educated and are rapidly opening up to the rest of society — I expect one of them to be next if a Southern baptist doesn’t make it in.”
“clannish" tendencies, have a certain democratic bias as well (chiefly, perhaps, evidenced and fostered by their religious organization); and the Irish, disaffected as they are towards England having so numerous and so close ties, through the emigration movement, with the United”
“When they meet abroad, they fall upon each other’s necks in spirit; even at home there is a kind of clannish intimacy in their talk.”
“In a piece published in the New York Times in 1965, Vonnegut insisted that he did not want to be classified as a sci-fi author and said some wounding things about sci-fi enthusiasts: They were clannish and childish about matters outside technology; and not many sci-fi writers could really write.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘clannish’.
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Interesting words
A list of words that are odd or words that I have looked up.
concupiscence, brize, scree, scoria, forestaff, spanaemia, valetudinarianism, distasture, pyrethrum, laudanum, gentian, bicameral and 11184 more...
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Introverted
Quiet, shy, Introverted, reserved, isolated, mysterious
abashed, alienated, alone, anonymous, antisocial, ascetic, asocial, austere, autonomous, awkward, bashful, clannish and 91 more...
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Chained Bear's Favorite Words
peruvian, sparky, poop, etymological, fuck, whatnot, pulchritude, nosh, tetched, quotidian, squalid, trajectory and 388 more...
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sionnach's Words
contumely, fomite, holmgang, poltroon, eleemosynary, obsidian, nugatory, grindcore, felch, recrudescent, pyx, parenteral and 3271 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for clannish.
Prolagus You just have to sneeze when you start saying it. May 1, 2008
chained_bear I want this to be like a knish, but it just isn't. May 1, 2008