clannish

American  

[klan-ish] / ˈklæn ɪʃ /

adjective

1. of, relating to, or characteristic of a clan.

2. inclined to associate exclusively with the members of one's own group; cliquish.

   the clannish behavior of the original members of the country club.

   Synonyms:

   narrow, aloof, distant, snobbish, exclusive

3. imbued with or influenced by the sentiments, prejudices, or the like, of a clan.

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clannish British  

/ ˈklænɪʃ /

adjective

1. of or characteristic of a clan

2. tending to associate closely within a limited group to the exclusion of outsiders; cliquish

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Other Word Forms

• clannishly adverb
• clannishness noun
• unclannish adjective
• unclannishly adverb
• unclannishness noun

Etymology

Origin of clannish

First recorded in 1770–80; clan + -ish ¹

Example Sentences

The model relies on a dramatic shift in relations among officers and prisoners, two historically warring factions in a system built on clannish gamesmanship for survival.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 19, 2024

“That thing where ya break out of your own clannish mentality ta do somethin’ for someone else!”

From New York Times • May 22, 2022

Vance attributes his grandparents' clannish and protective behavior to those roots.

From Salon • Dec. 27, 2020

The characters in this movie — as in a lot of Farr’s other scripts — are clannish, and fiercely protective of their own territory.

From The Verge • Mar. 29, 2019

In general, the Virginians were the chief beneficiaries of all the highly stylized histories, though, as Adams observed, “not a lad upon the Highlands is more clannish than every Virginian I have ever known.”

From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis