Meaning & use
thatched
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Meaning
adjectivebefore a noun
Having a roof made of dried plants such as straw or reeds.
Grammar: Used before a noun: a thatched cottage. It is not usually used after a verb.
Patterns
- thatched cottage
- thatched roof
- thatched house
They spent the weekend in a thatched cottage in the countryside.
The village is famous for its thatched roofs.
The old thatched barn was damaged in the storm.
Common combinations
- thatched cottage
- We rented a thatched cottage near the coast.
- thatched roof
- The thatched roof needs to be repaired every few years.
- thatched house
- A thatched house can be warm in winter and cool in summer.
- thatched pub
- They stopped for lunch at a traditional thatched pub.
Synonyms and how they differ
- straw-roofed
- Similar meaning, but less common and more literal; 'thatched' is the standard word for roofs made of reeds or straw.
- reed-roofed
- More specific, referring only to roofs made of reeds; 'thatched' can also refer to straw or other dried plants.
Word family
Commonly confused: thatched or thatch?
thatched vs thatch
As a verb, 'thatch' means to put a roof on a building; 'thatched' describes a building that already has such a roof.
Practice
The old cottage had a ______ roof made of reeds.
Choose one answer.
We need an adjective to describe the roof, and 'thatched' is the correct adjective form. 'Thatching' is the -ing form of the verb, 'thatch' is a noun or verb, and 'thatches' is a plural noun or third-person verb.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “thatched”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.