close-knit

From close (“in an intimate or immediate manner”, adverb) +‎ knit (“joined closely and firmly together”, adjective).

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /kləʊs ˈnɪt/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /kloʊs ˈnɪt/

• Audio (General American):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪt

close-knit (comparative closer-knit or more close-knit, superlative closest-knit or most close-knit)

1. Of a group: closely connected or linked, as by a common bond, culture, or identity.

   Synonyms: tight, tight-knit, thick as thieves; see also Thesaurus:cohesive

   Antonyms: loose-knit; see also Thesaurus:separate

   a close-knit community

   I come from a close-knit family; we never keep secrets from one another.

   • 1860, Edward Everett Hale, The Elements of Christian Doctrine:

     He looked rather to a close-knit company of brethren and sisters, knit so close that he could call it a family or a brotherhood, eager that God's kingdom should come.

   • 1980, AA Book of British Villages, Drive Publications Ltd, page 217:

     I think I learned more from my family than they did from me in the brief idyllic time we spent together. None of them much more than a mile from home, they carried the aura of a close-knit community as a shield against against the unknown.

   • 1993, Ana Roca, John M. Lipski, Spanish in the United States:

     The close-knit ethnic enclave also provides a stable environment where the dialect is commonly used. Therefore, if an ethnic community is close-knit the ethnic mother tongue is more likely to be retained under consensual pressure of its members to maintain linguistic separateness.

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