close-knit

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

1. (of a group) Closely linked or connected, as by a common identity, culture, or bond.

   Synonym: tight-knit

   Antonym: loose-knit

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

   a close-knit community

   • 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.

   • 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.

• slice knot