close-knit
Americanadjective
adjective
Etymology
Origin of close-knit
First recorded in 1925–30
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The players were a close-knit team when they arrived in Australia for the Women’s Asian Cup, a quadrennial tournament involving 12 teams from the region.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 12, 2026
A once proud, close-knit community has been left to the vagaries of absentee landlords, rising deprivation and residents who often don't want to be here.
From BBC • Feb. 17, 2026
In the aftermath, Anderson remembers being supported by his family, friends and close-knit tennis community, which he was not sure he "expected" and felt "fortunate" to receive.
From BBC • Jan. 13, 2026
Selena soon finds herself welcomed into the quirky community, a close-knit group that scrapes by on the seasonal influx of tourist dollars and a year-round system of mutual aid.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 2, 2026
“If you get too large, you don’t have enough work in common. You don’t have enough things in common, and then you start to become strangers and that close-knit fellowship starts to get lost.”
From "The Tipping Point" by Malcolm Gladwell
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
