: a narrow exclusive circle or group of persons
especially
: one held together by common interests, views, or purposes
high school cliques
Synonyms
Examples of clique in a Sentence
that clique refuses to even talk to outsiders at their lunch table
Recent Examples on the Web
In just five years the brand had rocketed to the top echelon of global fashion houses, sidling up to the French-speaking clique of Chanel, Christian Dior, and Yves Saint Laurent.
—
Josh Condon, Robb Report, 3 Sep. 2023
The budget calls for the addition of three captains to be placed in stations with a history of deputy gangs and cliques.
—Rebecca Ellis, Los Angeles Times, 27 June 2023
But the faction, which emerged in the 1980s in Gaza (with a degree of Israeli help) as a Palestinian offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, won the votes of many Palestinians who were tired of the entrenched Palestinian clique of Abbas and his allies in the secular Fatah party.
—Ishaan Tharoor, Washington Post, 24 Oct. 2023
And Charlotte would just lose herself in the clique of kids playing in the street.
—Nick Watt, CNN, 22 Oct. 2023
Since the mid-2000s, shelves of academic research have been generated that study Russian kleptocracy, the idea that Russia is ruled by a clique of people primarily interested in illicitly extracting wealth from the state and the economy.
—Sam Greene, Foreign Affairs, 22 Sep. 2023
This final season is in some sense about what the show’s sometimes frustrating, sometimes sublime structural choice—to be a show about a community, not a clique within it—really means.
—Phillip MacIak, The New Republic, 27 Sep. 2023
Orban’s clique, in turn, hopes for a far-right restoration in the White House, which would give new momentum to their agenda.
—Ishaan Tharoor, Washington Post, 27 Sep. 2023
Forbidding triangles means forbidding large cliques, and this forces large independent sets to emerge, just as the Erdős-Hajnal conjecture predicts.
—Patrick Honner, Quanta Magazine, 21 July 2023
See More
Josh Condon, Robb Report, 3 Sep. 2023
The budget calls for the addition of three captains to be placed in stations with a history of deputy gangs and cliques.
—Rebecca Ellis, Los Angeles Times, 27 June 2023
But the faction, which emerged in the 1980s in Gaza (with a degree of Israeli help) as a Palestinian offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, won the votes of many Palestinians who were tired of the entrenched Palestinian clique of Abbas and his allies in the secular Fatah party.
—Ishaan Tharoor, Washington Post, 24 Oct. 2023
And Charlotte would just lose herself in the clique of kids playing in the street.
—Nick Watt, CNN, 22 Oct. 2023
Since the mid-2000s, shelves of academic research have been generated that study Russian kleptocracy, the idea that Russia is ruled by a clique of people primarily interested in illicitly extracting wealth from the state and the economy.
—Sam Greene, Foreign Affairs, 22 Sep. 2023
This final season is in some sense about what the show’s sometimes frustrating, sometimes sublime structural choice—to be a show about a community, not a clique within it—really means.
—Phillip MacIak, The New Republic, 27 Sep. 2023
Orban’s clique, in turn, hopes for a far-right restoration in the White House, which would give new momentum to their agenda.
—Ishaan Tharoor, Washington Post, 27 Sep. 2023
Forbidding triangles means forbidding large cliques, and this forces large independent sets to emerge, just as the Erdős-Hajnal conjecture predicts.
—Patrick Honner, Quanta Magazine, 21 July 2023
See More
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'clique.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Etymology
French
First Known Use
1711, in the meaning defined above
Dictionary Entries Near clique
Cite this Entry
“Clique.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/clique. Accessed 5 Dec. 2023.
Copy Citation
More from Merriam-Webster on clique
Nglish: Translation of clique for Spanish Speakers
Britannica English: Translation of clique for Arabic Speakers
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share