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Synonyms

clubby

American  
[kluhb-ee] / ˈklʌb i /

adjective

clubbier, clubbiest

  1. characteristic of a club.

    The room had a warm, clubby atmosphere.

  2. very friendly; intimate; chummy.

    He became clubby with the bartender, who slipped him many free drinks.

  3. socially exclusive; cliquish.

    Their group is very clubby and unfriendly.

  4. inclined to join clubs.

clubby British  
/ ˈklʌbɪ /

adjective

  1. sociable, esp effusively so

  2. exclusive or cliquish

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

Etymology

Origin of clubby

First recorded in 1855–60; club + -y 1

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.

That segment of the show largely stripped out the guitars to focus on clubby techno and nasty slashes of synth noise.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 12, 2026

Moroccan-born Lemssouguer sticks out in London’s clubby finance scene.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 4, 2026

It reveals an American elite blinded to outrages occurring in plain view, due to the clubby nature of high society.

From Slate • Nov. 20, 2025

But Mr. Parker’s incorporation of clubby rhythms suggests neither mind-expansion nor hedonism but rather mathematical precision.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 21, 2025

It was only a pleasant clubby discussion of the problem of Jim's and Charity's innocence that delayed the jury's verdict.

From We Can't Have Everything by Hughes, Rupert

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.