as in Mafia
a group involved in secret or criminal activities
a conspiracy theory about the existence of an international cabal devoted to world domination
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as in to club
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of cabal
Literary Hub, 10 Dec. 2025
Somehow, none of it ever tips into ultraseriousness or total absurdity; the audience can both laugh at such inventions as a cabal of white supremacists (named the Christmas Adventurers) and shudder at the kind of power these characters represent.
—David Sims, The Atlantic, 9 Dec. 2025
Martin Finucane, BostonGlobe.com, 14 June 2019
Powell is drawing encouragement from the significant losses of candidates who, like Burton, are backed by the Empower Texans cabal attempting to take control of the Texas Legislature.
—Richard Greene, star-telegram, 24 May 2018
See All Example Sentences for cabal
Noun
Thomas Pynchon’s latest novel, Shadow Ticket, set in 1932 Milwaukee, takes place in a landscape of industrial ghosts, strike-breakers, fascist sympathizers and absurdist cabals.
—Literary Hub, 10 Dec. 2025
Somehow, none of it ever tips into ultraseriousness or total absurdity; the audience can both laugh at such inventions as a cabal of white supremacists (named the Christmas Adventurers) and shudder at the kind of power these characters represent.
—David Sims, The Atlantic, 9 Dec. 2025
Verb
Nothing was more to be desired than that every practicable obstacle should be opposed to cabal, intrigue, and corruption.
—Martin Finucane, BostonGlobe.com, 14 June 2019
Powell is drawing encouragement from the significant losses of candidates who, like Burton, are backed by the Empower Texans cabal attempting to take control of the Texas Legislature.
—Richard Greene, star-telegram, 24 May 2018
See All Example Sentences for cabal
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cabal
Noun
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The series follows the Black Mafia Family in Detroit and is based on a true story.—
Erik Kain,
Forbes.com,
16 Aug. 2025
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On the surface, the crime drama follows the rise and fall of the Black Mafia Family — one of the most influential crime families in the country.—
Kayla Grant,
People.com,
16 Aug. 2025
Verb
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An inning later, Judge clubbed another two-run dinger off Ricky Vanasco.—
Gary Phillips,
New York Daily News,
21 Feb. 2026
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Enter Sheila, a street magician blackballed by the local boys club who wows Lincoln with her tips-only act.—
Ben Travers,
IndieWire,
20 Feb. 2026
Noun
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Investigators learned that a majority of the suspects were active-duty Navy and that many were associated with criminal street gangs, official said.—
Caleb Lunetta,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
26 Feb. 2026
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The final months of Dati’s tenure were marked by the infamous jewellery heist at the Louvre Museum in October in which a four-person gang made off with $100M worth of jewellery including items that had belonged to Napoleon.—
Melanie Goodfellow,
Deadline,
26 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Beyond that, his 76 OPS+ — which translates to 24% worse than league average offensive production — ranked 11th worst in MLB among all players with at least 450 plate appearances in 2025.—
Mac Cerullo,
Boston Herald,
5 Feb. 2026
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Was this initiative a hard sell to league officials and team owners?—
Cynthia Littleton,
Variety,
5 Feb. 2026
Noun
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Their findings lead them to uncover a conspiracy, and, most intriguingly, reports of an unidentified flying object.—
Kevin Jacobsen,
Entertainment Weekly,
22 Feb. 2026
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Fifty-year-old Daniel Taylor, a professor of marketing and supply chain management at the university’s Rawls College of Business, faces a charge of conspiracy to distribute or possess with intent to distribute fentanyl, according to the statement.—
Lillie Davidson,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
21 Feb. 2026
Verb
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The pair married in 2022 and have collaborated on a handful of songs together.—
Maya Georgi,
Rolling Stone,
27 Feb. 2026
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The universities of Chicago, Northwestern and Illinois are on all lists of top-tier research institutions in the world, and their scientists collaborate with those at suburban Argonne and Fermilab.—
Jim Nowlan,
Chicago Tribune,
27 Feb. 2026
Noun
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Labor and trade groups, including a national retirees syndicate, have issued statements condemning the economic and political crisis.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
14 Feb. 2026
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The syndicate called for the government to launch a comprehensive national survey of buildings at risk of collapse.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
8 Feb. 2026
Verb
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In the succeeding years OpenAI would raise billions of dollars, release ChatGPT, raise tens of billions more, fire and then reinstate Altman over five days, redo the board with members that were allied with the CEO, and reach a half-trillion-dollar valuation.—
Tom Dotan,
Vanity Fair,
23 Feb. 2026
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Early voting began with Paxton looking like the GOP’s front-runner, even though Cornyn’s campaign and allied super PACs had spent more than $54 million on television advertising since last year, according to the ad-tracing service AdImpact.—
Meg Kinnard,
Chicago Tribune,
17 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Cabal.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cabal. Accessed 2 Mar. 2026.
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