Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Of, relating to, or characteristic of a clan.
- adjective Inclined to cling together as a group and exclude outsiders.
from The Century Dictionary.
- 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.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective 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.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective Of, of related to a
clan . - adjective
Socially exclusive .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective characteristic of a clan especially in being unified
- adjective befitting or characteristic of those who incline to social exclusiveness and who rebuff the advances of people considered inferior
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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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".
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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".
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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".
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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 2007
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It's kind of clannish if you'll allow me to us that word.
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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.
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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 Days Before Yesterday Frederick Spencer Hamilton 1892
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The Morrises were a very "clannish" family, and my grandfather's house was the London centre.
Autobiographical Sketches Annie Wood Besant 1890
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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.
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"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
The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 17, No. 100, February, 1866 Various
chained_bear commented on the word clannish
I want this to be like a knish, but it just isn't.
May 1, 2008
Prolagus commented on the word clannish
You just have to sneeze when you start saying it.
May 1, 2008