Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com
Synonyms

kissing cousins

Idioms  

  1. Two or more things that are closely akin or very similar. For example, They may be made by different manufacturers, but these two cars are kissing cousins. This metaphoric term alludes to a distant relative who is well known enough to be greeted with a kiss. [c. 1930]

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.

In this chapter, you describe cults and conspiracy theories as "kissing cousins," noting that America has its own favorite flavor of conspiracy theory, with three key ingredients.

From Salon • May 26, 2025

But while numerous other culinary trends have come and gone, Cal Mex has not only remained but thrived, even as skeptics mocked and dismissed it and its kissing cousins, Tex-Mex and Sur-Mex, as something inferior.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 15, 2022

Maybe crime and music are not meant for a shotgun wedding, as it were, but rather to remain kissing cousins, circling each other warily, snarling, unruly and magnetic.

From Washington Post • Oct. 27, 2016

Jerry Brown and Andrew Cuomo are the kissing cousins of state government.

From BusinessWeek • Apr. 7, 2011

It’s such a distant connection that I hope Oscar won’t bring up our being kissing cousins at school.

From "Before We Were Free" by Julia Alvarez

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.