clique

noun

ˈklik 

also

ˈklēk 

: a narrow exclusive circle or group of persons

especially : one held together by common interests, views, or purposes

high school cliques

cliquey

ˈkli-kē 

also

ˈklē- 

adjective

cliquish

ˈkli-kish 

adjective

cliquishly adverb

cliquishness noun

Synonyms of clique

• circle
• crowd
• network
• community
• bunch
• gang
• pack
• clan
• coterie
• coven

Examples of clique in a Sentence

that clique refuses to even talk to outsiders at their lunch table

Recent Examples on the Web

Send both members of the cool-kid clique home at the same time? — Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 24 July 2026

That era involved small cliques of devs talking a big game about decentralization (which often provided a pretext for no accountability) while shilling tokens at all turns. — Jeff John Roberts, Fortune, 20 July 2026

Bradač’s work looked at Ramsey numbers, which tell mathematicians exactly how large a graph can become before it’s guaranteed to gain a clique or independent set. — Sam MacDonald, Scientific American, 15 July 2026

But then there was another clique of women's basketball fans that suddenly had a problem with Clark. — Jackson Thompson Outkick, FOXNews.com, 12 July 2026

Word History

Etymology

French

First Known Use

1711, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for clique

• beak
• beek
• bleak
• cheek
• chic
• creak
• creek
• eke
• freak
• geek
• greek
• leak

Kids Definition

clique

noun

ˈklēk  ˈklik 

: a small group of people who spend time together and are not friendly to other people

cliquey

ˈklē-kē 

ˈkli-

adjective