as in clannish
bound together by feelings of very close association
the cliquish White House press corps soon let him know that he was not on the A-list
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cliquish
Adjective
-
Jews, because human beings are and always will be clannish.—
David Bezmozgis,
New Yorker,
6 Apr. 2025 -
This sort of soft, clannish corruption is not a coat of paint that can be stripped from the protectionist architecture; the dysfunction infests the very foundations of it.—
David B. McGarry,
Baltimore Sun,
30 Mar. 2025
Adjective
-
In today’s opinions newsletter: The value of public land, Arizona’s friendly stance toward tech and Mexico’s president, the Trump whisperer. Arizona has about 30 million acres of public land.—
Joanna Allhands,
AZCentral.com,
15 Aug. 2025
-
Time-traveling romances, space-traveling alien monsters, and celebrities in seriously great shape who want to pass along their wisdom to us normal folk — all this and more await us in this weekend’s friendly neighborhood streaming guide.—
Erik Kain,
Forbes.com,
15 Aug. 2025
Adjective
-
As the new general manager of the Farmington Civic Theater, Clare Cooney plans to add some indie films to the historic Farmington landmark’s familiar mix of tentpole movies and family favorites, writes Julie Hinds.—
Leah Olajide,
Freep.com,
9 Aug. 2025
-
For many people, a society where women average 1.8 or 1.9 children would feel familiar.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
8 Aug. 2025
Adjective
-
His response was an indication that Mahomes and Jones are close-knit.—
Pete Grathoff,
Kansas City Star,
14 Aug. 2025
-
The population is small but close-knit, with some residents having lived here for 30 years.—
John Metcalfe,
Mercury News,
13 Aug. 2025
Adjective
-
Read More: The Real Danger of the Trump-Putin Summit At the press conference, Putin talked about how close Russia was to America (shades of Sarah Palin) and claimed that Russian trade with American has increased by 20%.—
Richard Stengel,
Time,
16 Aug. 2025
-
Still, don’t fully count out the Cajuns — at least to keep it close.—
Maddie Hartley
August 15,
Kansas City Star,
15 Aug. 2025
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.
Cite this Entry
“Cliquish.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cliquish. Accessed 21 Aug. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share