1
: of or relating to a clan
clannish traditions
2
: tending to associate only with a select group of similar background or status
a clannish community
clannishly
adverb
clannishness
noun
Examples of clannish in a Sentence
The college faculty can be pretty clannish, so it's difficult to be an outsider there.
a clannish family that can be rather cool to outsiders
Recent Examples on the Web
The model relies on a dramatic shift in relations among officers and prisoners, two historically warring factions in a system built on clannish gamesmanship for survival.
—
Tribune News Service, The Mercury News, 29 July 2024
In Afghanistan, legitimate authority has traditionally been highly localized, a product of consensus rather than brute force, and firmly anchored in tribal, clannish, and kinship structures.
—Jonah Blank, Foreign Affairs, 19 Aug. 2011
The most successful of those managers have carved out a niche catering to the valley’s famously clannish billionaire elites.
—James McClain, Robb Report, 6 Dec. 2023
There are a broad spectrum of other possible explanations for the disparate outcomes Boegeman cites, including religious differences, geographic differences, even — gasp — the clannish propensity of ethnic groups to band together and create — or retain — their unique cultural traditions.
—Star Tribune, 19 July 2021
See all Example Sentences for clannish 
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Tribune News Service, The Mercury News, 29 July 2024
In Afghanistan, legitimate authority has traditionally been highly localized, a product of consensus rather than brute force, and firmly anchored in tribal, clannish, and kinship structures.
—Jonah Blank, Foreign Affairs, 19 Aug. 2011
The most successful of those managers have carved out a niche catering to the valley’s famously clannish billionaire elites.
—James McClain, Robb Report, 6 Dec. 2023
There are a broad spectrum of other possible explanations for the disparate outcomes Boegeman cites, including religious differences, geographic differences, even — gasp — the clannish propensity of ethnic groups to band together and create — or retain — their unique cultural traditions.
—Star Tribune, 19 July 2021
See all Example Sentences for clannish
Dictionary Entries Near clannish
Cite this Entry
“Clannish.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/clannish. Accessed 29 Nov. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
clannish
adjective
clan·nish
ˈklan-ish 
: tending to associate only with a group of persons like oneself
clannishness
noun
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share