coterie

noun

co·​te·​rie ˈkō-tə-(ˌ)rē 

ˌkō-tə-ˈrē

: an intimate and often exclusive group of persons with a unifying common interest or purpose

a coterie of artists

a coterie of astronomers

Synonyms

• body
• bunch
• circle
• clan
• clique
• community
• coven
• crowd
• fold
• galère
• gang
• klatch
• klatsch
• lot
• network
• pack
• ring
• set

Examples of coterie in a Sentence

her coterie of fellow musicians

His films are admired by a small coterie of critics.

Recent Examples on the Web

Starting in the late 1990s, wealthy Russians, including a coterie of oligarchs close to Putin, began investing huge amounts of money in St. Panteleimon. —Robert F. Worth, The Atlantic, 10 Apr. 2024

Related The movie was largely shot in five days, with Drew and a small coterie of mostly unknown actors performing in front of a green screen. —Abraham Josephine Riesman, Rolling Stone, 8 Apr. 2024

By being uniquely herself, the singer has amassed a coterie of prominent admirers. —Erin Osmon, Los Angeles Times, 2 Apr. 2024

Soon enough the progressive coterie is a reactionary mob, everyone having bitten off a discrete morsel of complaint until nothing is left to defend. —Jesse Green, New York Times, 18 Mar. 2024

At worst, some speculated that his coterie was either complicit with or under the thumb of the gangs. —Amy Wilentz, The Atlantic, 7 Mar. 2024

The Zodiac council’s concerns are shared by the Artist’s friends, a coterie of shallow characters tasked with providing one-liners and staging an intervention. —Lovia Gyarkye, The Hollywood Reporter, 14 Feb. 2024

Perhaps Fallon, known for being one of the more garrulous among TV’s late-night coterie, has more to say. —Brian Steinberg, Variety, 28 Feb. 2024

And to be pedantic for a moment, plenty of contemporary Spider-Man movies and spin-offs have been released in the years since 2003, when this film is set, and none mentions the good Madame or her coterie of female sidekicks. —David Sims, The Atlantic, 14 Feb. 2024

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from French, "group of persons joined by a common interest," earlier, "group of peasants owing labor service or rent to a lord," going back to Middle French (Picard) "tenure of a free peasant," from cotier "peasant on a smallholding, cottar" + -erie -ery

First Known Use

1738, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

coterie

noun

co·​te·​rie ˈkōt-ə-(ˌ)rē 

ˌkōt-ə-ˈrē

: a small close group of people with a shared interest