CLIQUES Synonyms: 54 Similar and Opposite Words

cliques

noun

plural of clique

as in networks

a group of people sharing a common interest and relating together socially that clique refuses to even talk to outsiders at their lunch table

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of cliques The vast majority of deputies take pride in serving with honor and professionalism, but when individuals engage in misconduct or participate in deputy gangs or cliques that damage the reputation of the department, those actions cannot be tolerated. —

Sierra Van Der Brug, Daily News, 4 May 2026 In this milieu, Hollywood A-listers like Will Ferrell and Sharon Stone, who occupy separate cliques nearby, pale in comparison to the mingling artistic luminaries. —

Jessica Gelt, Los Angeles Times, 17 Apr. 2026 Neither wants to navigate the cliques and social politics of this messy consolidated school. —

Literary Hub, 14 Apr. 2026 Instead, the researchers think the violence stemmed from a breakdown of friendships and escalations between cliques and rivals. —

Evan Bush, NBC news, 9 Apr. 2026 The dark comedy about teen suicide and social cliques was adapted into a musical by Laurence O’Keefe and Kevin Murphy and had an off-Broadway run in 2014. —

Christopher Arnott, Hartford Courant, 8 Apr. 2026 Their parties became notorious even in my own cliques; my parents knew to expect at least a few dozen teenagers crashing their party, sucking down all the noodles, and sneaking beers in the canyon down below. —

Natasha Pickowicz, Vogue, 20 Feb. 2026 This graph had no cliques — clusters of nodes that are all connected to one another. —

Leila Sloman, Quanta Magazine, 28 Jan. 2026 What began as a search for community and understanding turned into an experience that felt akin to the cliques and social hierarchies of high school. —

Hannah Nwoko, Parents, 25 Jan. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for cliques

Noun

Gutfeld, however, has the major advantage of airing in the earlier primetime window, where more viewers are simply awake and tuning in across all networks.

— Kelly Lawler, USA Today, 13 May 2026
Built from complex networks of sometimes more than 100 different types of neurons, retinal tissue consumes two to three times more energy than the same mass of typical brain tissue.

— Yasemin Saplakoglu, Quanta Magazine, 13 May 2026