clique 1 of 2

cliquey

2 of 2

adjective

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
Noun
That’s because nothing really happens in Dazed and Confused, a freewheeling collection of loose vignettes of different cliques and social permutations hanging out and driving around aimlessly. Brian Boone, Vulture, 10 June 2025 The 18th Street clique, also known as Barrio 18, is a multi-ethnic street gang that started in Los Angeles and has become one of the nation’s largest gangs. Joe Dwinell, Boston Herald, 20 May 2025 Vasquez was the leader of the Trece Locos Salvatrucha, or TLS, clique of MS-13 operating in Somerville. Rick Sobey, Boston Herald, 23 May 2025 My new book, The Last Ferry Out (out May 20), unhooks the velvet rope into another fascinating clique: a group of expats living on a tiny tropical island off the coast of Cancún. Andrea Bartz, People.com, 18 May 2025 See All Example Sentences for clique
Recent Examples of Synonyms for clique
Noun
  • Just jump on a return train for a few minutes back to Rougemont and a world devoid of the larger international crowds that descend upon swanky Gstaad just a few miles up the road.
    John Oseid, Forbes.com, 1 July 2025
  • The Brat star drew one of the weekend’s biggest crowds for her set on the festival’s second-biggest stage; The 1975, Neil Young and Olivia Rodrigo were booked for Pyramid, while Loyle Carner and The Prodigy joined her on the Other.
    Thomas Smith, Billboard, 30 June 2025
Noun
  • The film, directed by designer Alexis Bittar and produced by Oscar winner Bruce Cohen and Bittar, examines how the flag can be reclaimed as a symbol of unity for all Americans, with a focus on the LGBTQ community.
    Marc Malkin, Variety, 1 July 2025
  • Students were required to undertake certain extracurricular activities (Prevost was in the choir with Franks—both sing tenor—and played tennis) and to keep up their academic performance, but mostly the school’s focus was how to live in community.
    Belinda Luscombe, Time, 1 July 2025
Adjective
  • But if oil prices remain middling, even friendly policies might not compel companies to significantly ramp up drilling.
    Jasmine Laws, MSNBC Newsweek, 10 July 2025
  • Instead of an origin story, Peter is thrown into the stressful situation of navigating high school life, being a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man and crushing on the daughter of Michael Keaton's villainous Vulture.
    Brian Truitt, USA Today, 10 July 2025
Noun
  • As is tradition, Bungie threw in a bunch of weird lore stuff that has puzzles that need solving, but often some fun stories as well.
    Paul Tassi, Forbes.com, 10 July 2025
  • And then there’s a bunch of teams in that (middle) lane.
    Patrick Mooney, New York Times, 10 July 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
  • Maintaining brand integrity across a growing and geographically dispersed network is another potential challenge of franchising.
    Don Tarinelli, Forbes.com, 2 July 2025
  • These artists are operating outside of the formal networks of power.
    Karin Wulf, Smithsonian Magazine, 1 July 2025
Adjective
  • The whole first half of the season saw Hamilton struggle to adapt to the Italian race car, and Silverstone was another chapter in a familiar story.
    Nelson Espinal, MSNBC Newsweek, 6 July 2025
  • Managers saw themselves as solving the equivalent of familiar jigsaw puzzles.
    Steve Denning, Forbes.com, 6 July 2025
Noun
  • The Tarte Shape Tape formula delivers full, flawless coverage that instantly brightens dark circles, blurs blemishes, and sculpts the face without feeling heavy.
    Marie Lodi, Allure, 5 July 2025
  • A couple of years ago, the tree collapsed, on account of disease, and now, amid birdsong and leaf-whisper, the concentric circles of stones, shifted by roots and overgrown with moss, have become a memorial to the organism that once supported them.
    Shauna Lyon, New Yorker, 4 July 2025

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Clique.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/clique. Accessed 16 Jul. 2025.

More from Merriam-Webster on clique

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!