as in crowd
a group of people sharing a common interest and relating together socially
that clique refuses to even talk to outsiders at their lunch table
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in cliquish
bound together by feelings of very close association
found the people at the brokerage house to be just as cliquey as a gaggle of high school cheerleaders
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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 clique
Keri Blakinger, Los Angeles Times, 11 May 2025
But while Nick's actions threaten to alienate him from his clique, Carell has spoken about how the series ultimately brought him closer to Fey.
—Randall Colburn, EW.com, 3 May 2025
In a neighborhood in Golden in the early 2000s, five friends formed a clique dangerously dubbed The Burrito Boys.
—Colin Wrenn, Denver Post, 22 Apr. 2025
There were no small dinners for the team’s different cliques, only large team dinners every night.
—Joshua Kloke, New York Times, 2 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for clique
Noun
The department has been haunted for years by allegations about violent, tattooed cliques, whose bad behavior has cost the county millions of dollars in legal settlements.
—Keri Blakinger, Los Angeles Times, 11 May 2025
But while Nick's actions threaten to alienate him from his clique, Carell has spoken about how the series ultimately brought him closer to Fey.
—Randall Colburn, EW.com, 3 May 2025
In a neighborhood in Golden in the early 2000s, five friends formed a clique dangerously dubbed The Burrito Boys.
—Colin Wrenn, Denver Post, 22 Apr. 2025
There were no small dinners for the team’s different cliques, only large team dinners every night.
—Joshua Kloke, New York Times, 2 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for clique
Recent Examples of Synonyms for clique
Noun
-
These ideas are meant to give CNN viewers something extra in an era when many news executives acknowledge traditional presentations are losing their ability to captivate large crowds.—
Brian Steinberg,
Variety,
27 May 2025
-
Far-right groups promoted a false rumor that the attacker was a migrant, leading to days of race riots that saw crowds of agitators target and attack hotels housing asylum seekers.—
Rob Picheta,
CNN Money,
27 May 2025
Noun
-
Support for Trump among likely Cuban American voters in Miami was at an all-time high on the eve of last year’s election, according to a poll by Florida International University, which has been tracking the Cuban American community since 1991.—
Joshua Goodman,
Los Angeles Times,
27 May 2025
-
Mayor Brandon Johnson will push forward this spring an ordinance designed to reform land-use policies that environmentalists say for decades led to pollution in Black and Latino communities.—
Chicago Tribune,
Chicago Tribune,
27 May 2025
Adjective
-
During public remarks in 2022, Justice Elena Kagan – one of the court’s three liberal justices − spoke out against sweeping injunctions and the ability of challengers to find one friendly judge to issue such an order.—
Maureen Groppe,
USA Today,
12 May 2025
-
Hussain has a friendly, reassuring presence, making the already-simple recipes even less intimidating.—
Katie Rife,
EW.com,
11 May 2025
Noun
-
That means a revisit for old fans who grew up with Stitch's shenanigans alongside his young Hawaiian bestie Lilo and a fresh bunch of little movie lovers discovering the adorable pals for the first time.—
Brian Truitt,
USA Today,
23 May 2025
-
There’s not an obvious dud — the M:I equivalent of Kingdom of the Crystal Skull — in the bunch.—
Keith Phipps,
Vulture,
23 May 2025
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
Noun
-
Zaher Jabarin, based in mainly in Turkey, plays a crucial role in overseeing Hamas's financial network, and Muhammad Ismail Darwish, chairman of the Hamas Shura Council and also in Qatar, is another influential member, particularly responsible for managing foreign relations.—
Amir Daftari,
MSNBC Newsweek,
29 May 2025
-
Authorities had uncovered a nationwide network of fixers who conspired to influence hundreds of college basketball games over a five-year period.—
Austin Meek,
New York Times,
29 May 2025
Adjective
-
The latter star has landed a number of hits throughout the past few years by repurposing melodies and interpolating hooks from older, familiar smashes by other artists, reworking them into something exciting and new for a different audience.—
Hugh McIntyre,
Forbes.com,
31 May 2025
-
Absence of treatment is not absence of illness, of course, but given how much time Gauguin spent in hospitals, that such a familiar disease would have been missed seems unlikely.—
Susan Tallman,
The Atlantic,
30 May 2025
Noun
-
Yao is tough in the circle, with a 3.12 ERA and 102 strikeouts in 98 2/3 innings.—
Don Norcross,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
30 May 2025
-
In early doujinshi circles, there were a variety of terms including Onna x Onna (woman x woman), Onna no ko x onna no ko (girl x girl), and Onna-doushi (between women).—
Vrai Kaiser,
Them.,
30 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Clique.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/clique. Accessed 5 Jun. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share