thick

Less common meanings

8. 8
   heavy accentadjective

   Of an accent: strongly marked and clearly showing the speaker's nationality or place of origin, sometimes so heavy that the speech is hard to understand.

   Decades in California never softened his thick Brooklyn accent.

   The tour guide spoke English with a thick French accent.

   UsageUsually in a thick accent, often with a place or language: a thick Scottish accent.

   Similarheavy, strong, broad, pronounced

   Oppositeslight, faint

9. 9
   stupidadjectivecolloquial

   Stupid; mentally slow. Used informally, typically as an insult.

   He's not thick, he just wasn't paying attention.

   I must be a bit thick, because I read the instructions twice and still got it wrong.

   UsageAlso in the British idiom as thick as two short planks.

   Similarstupid, dumb, dense, brainless

   Oppositeintelligent, smart, brainy

10. 10
    broad buildadjective

    Heavy and broad in build; stocky and solid.

    The boxer's thick arms absorbed blow after blow.

    He was a thick, powerful man who seemed to fill the doorway.

    Similarstocky, chunky, solid, thickset

    Oppositeslim, slender, thin, slight

    Note

    Here the word describes a frame rather than an object: a thick neck, a body built solid and broad, close to stocky and thickset. Said of women, as in James T. Knight's Queen of the Hustle (2007) or Kenny Attaway's Nuthouse Love (2009), it turns admiring and shades into the slang for a curvy figure. Context usually settles which is meant, since one measures bulk and the other praises curves. Source

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 4 facts

    • James T. Knight wrote Queen of the Hustle. en.wiktionary.org
    • Queen of the Hustle uses thick admiringly about a woman's figure. en.wiktionary.org
    • Kenny Attaway wrote Nuthouse Love, published in 2009. authorhouse.com
    • Nuthouse Love uses thick to describe women as objects of attraction. en.wiktionary.org
11. 11
    curvyadjectiveslang

    Curvy and voluptuous, especially in having large hips; generally used as a term of appreciation.

    Fans flooded the comments to say the dancer looked thick in her new video.

    Magazines have slowly made room for thick models on their covers.

    UsageIt comments on someone's body, so keep it to casual talk with people who welcome it.

    Similarcurvy, voluptuous, buxom, curvaceous, full-figured

    Oppositeskinny, thin, slim

    Note

    Slang praise for a full, curvy figure with large hips, said chiefly of women. Sir Mix-a-Lot's "Baby Got Back" (1992) uses it in a shout-out to curvy Black women, and that admiring tone is the point.

12. 12
    close friendsadjectivecolloquial

    Close, friendly, or intimate with someone; on very familiar terms.

    By the end of the trip, the two interns were thick as thieves.

    The senator was always thick with the biggest donors in the state.

    UsageUsually after a verb: as thick as thieves, thick with someone.

    Similarclose, friendly, intimate, chummy, pally

    Oppositedistant, estranged, unfriendly

    Note

    Friendship measured as closeness, and it is most at home in the simile thick as thieves. Thomas Hughes's The Scouring of the White Horse (1858) uses it bare, describing two clerks who have been "very thick" since joining the office together.

13. 13
    heavilyadverb

    In a dense, heavy, or closely packed manner; so as to form a deep or concentrated layer or mass.

    He spread the mortar thick between the bricks.

    Dust lay thick on every shelf in the abandoned shop.

    UsageSame form as the adjective, usually after lie, lay or spread: dust lay thick.

    Similarheavily, densely, deep

    Oppositethinly, sparsely, lightly

14. 14
    one after anotheradverb

    Frequently or numerously; in rapid succession or great quantity.

    Complaints came thick and fast after the price increase.

    Arrows flew thick around the retreating soldiers.

    UsageUsually thick and fast: complaints came thick and fast.

15. 15
    detailedadjective

    Richly detailed and expansive; offering real substance rather than a quick sketch.

    The memoir offers a thick account of postwar Vienna, down to the price of bread.

    Critics admired the novel's thick rendering of small-town gossip and ritual.

    Similarrich, detailed, dense, full

    Oppositethin, sketchy, cursory, superficial

    Note

    An academic's word for richly layered description or theory. Christopher Carr and D. Troy Case write of thick prehistory (2005), meaning an account interested in a far broader array of topics. In McGinnis and Rappaport's Originalism and the Good Constitution (2013), a thick theory such as libertarianism or socialism carries a full view of the good. They argue that this is too much to found a constitution in a pluralistic society. Source

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 6 facts

    • Christopher Carr and D. Troy Case write about thick prehistory. christophercarrarchaeology.com
    • The discussion appeared in Gathering Hopewell, first published in 2005. The first edition's copyright page also gives 2005. link.springer.com
    • Their thick prehistory encompasses a broader range of topics. christophercarrarchaeology.com
    • McGinnis and Rappaport wrote Originalism and the Good Constitution, published in 2013. jmp.princeton.edu
    • The book treats libertarianism and socialism as thick theories embodying substantive views of the good. perlego.com
    • The authors argue against founding a constitution on such a theory in a pluralistic society. perlego.com
16. 16
    unfairadjectivedatedUK

    Troublesome or unreasonable; going beyond what is fair or acceptable.

    Expecting the staff to work the bank holiday unpaid is a bit thick.

    "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

    UsageUsually after a verb in a bit thick or rather thick.

    Similarunreasonable, unfair, rich, excessive

    Oppositereasonable, fair

    Note

    A dated British complaint, at home in the phrase "a bit thick," said of a demand that oversteps what is fair. Agatha Christie's The Mysterious Affair at Styles (1920) has it. Anita Leslie's Lady Randolph Churchill (1969) quotes a man who found it a bit thick to pay for a barouche bought in the '80s. Source

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 6 facts

    • This sense is British and dated. en.wiktionary.org
    • The expression 'a bit thick' can describe an unreasonable demand. en.wiktionary.org
    • Agatha Christie wrote The Mysterious Affair at Styles, first published in 1920. en.wikisource.org
    • The novel contains this sense of thick; John Cavendish says 'Pretty thick, isn’t it?' gutenberg.org
    • Anita Leslie's Lady Randolph Churchill was first published in 1969. openlibrary.org
    • Leslie quotes a man called George complaining about being expected to pay for a barouche purchased in the '80s. en.wiktionary.org
17. 17
    verbarchaictransitive or intransitive

    To become thick or dense, or to make something so; to thicken.

    The nightmare Life-in-death was she, / Who thicks man's blood with cold.

    1798, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

    A wicked ambush , which lay hidden long In the close covert of her guilful eyen, Thence breaking forth , did thick about me throng

    1595, Edmund Spenser, “[Amoretti.] Sonnet VII”

    Note

    An archaic verb inherited from Old English, with thicken now doing its work. Coleridge's Rime of the Ancient Mariner (1798) describes Life-in-Death, "who thicks man's blood with cold," using it with an object. It could also stand without one, of things growing dense. Source

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 4 facts

    • Coleridge wrote The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. en.wikipedia.org
    • The poem was first published in 1798. en.wikisource.org
    • The poem describes Life-in-Death with the quoted words, using thick transitively. en.wikisource.org
    • The verb could also mean to become thick without taking an object. en.wiktionary.org
18. 18
    nounslang

    A stupid or slow-witted person; a fool.

    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.

    2014, Joseph O'Connor, The Thrill of It All
19. 19
    nounarchaic

    A thicket; an area of dense bushes, undergrowth, or small trees.

    Through the thicke they heard one rudely rush.

    1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene