Meaning & use
kith
Last updated
Meaning
noununcountable
The friends, neighbors and acquaintances you know well, as distinct from your relatives.
Grammar: Almost never used alone; it appears in the fixed phrase kith and kin.
Patterns
- kith and kin
- your kith
She left a small sum to every friend and member of her kith.
He moved away and lost touch with his old kith.
The festival gathers kith and kin from across the valley.
Common combinations
- kith and kin
- We invited all our kith and kin to the wedding.
- leave kith and kin
- They had to leave kith and kin behind.
- far from kith and kin
- He died far from kith and kin.
- among kith and kin
- She felt safe among kith and kin.
Synonyms and how they differ
- friends
- Friends is the everyday word, whereas kith adds friends, neighbors and acquaintances in an old-fashioned way.
- acquaintances
- Acquaintances means people you know slightly, while kith suggests a closer local community.
- community
- Community is wider and describes a whole group, not the people personally known to you.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: kith or kin? kith or myth?
kith vs kin
Kin means blood relatives, whereas kith means friends and neighbors.
kith vs myth
Myth rhymes with kith but means a traditional story.
Practice
In the phrase kith and kin, what does kin refer to?
Choose one answer.
Kin means family relations, while kith means friends and neighbors, so together they cover everyone close to you.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “kith”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.