Clannish

Part of speech: adjective

Pronunciation: /ˈklæn.ɪʃ/

Definitions

1. Having a strong inclination to maintain tight-knit social circles that exclude outsiders
2. Reflecting a preference for interacting primarily within a select community while shunning broader social engagement
3. Showing a tendency to stay within small, exclusive social groups that exclude those outside the group

Etymology: Clannish is a plain formation: the noun "clan" with the adjective-forming suffix "-ish", which in English means "having the qualities of" or "belonging to." The noun itself came into English from Scottish Gaelic "clann," meaning children or descendants, and that word goes back through Irish to Old Irish "cland," and ultimately to Latin "planta," a shoot or sprout, which is also the source of the English "plant." So the family that owns a clan is, in a roundabout way, a family of plants. The suffix has a longer ancestry of its own. It descends from a Proto-Germanic ending, passed through Old English as "-isc," and it has been attached to nouns to mean "like" or "characteristic of" for well over a thousand years, as in "English" and "childish." Clannish therefore describes a group that behaves like a clan: tightly bound together and wary of outsiders.

Synonyms: exclusive, insular, tribal

Antonyms: inclusive, welcoming