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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

  • clubbily adverb
  • clubbiness noun

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.

It was an impressive way to launch his Kiss All The Time, Disco Occasionally era - which promises a much clubbier sound than his previous work.

From BBC

Yet Weinstein—who told The Wall Street Journal last February he “didn’t realize how clubby” the U.K. financial world was—later racked up a string of quiet victories.

From The Wall Street Journal

Few companies exemplify the clubby atmosphere and giant gains missed by everyday investors like the Elon Musk-founded rocket maker, which sends satellites and astronauts into space for the U.S. government.

From The Wall Street Journal

The clubby Lloyd’s market connects thousands of buyers and sellers of risks daily, with deals struck in a cavernous underwriting room or the nearby bars, thronged by underwriters and brokers every lunchtime.

From The Wall Street Journal

Upon landing in a private airport, visitors get a luggage tag that some businessmen like to keep on their bags as a clubby accessory.

From The Wall Street Journal

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.