clique
Americannoun
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cliques
plural
verb (used without object)
noun
Synonym Usage
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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cliquishnessnoun
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cliquismnoun
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subcliquenoun
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cliquelessadjective
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cliqueyadjective
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cliquishadjective
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cliquyadjective
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cliquishlyadverb
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of clique
1705–15; < French, apparently metaphorical use of Middle French clique latch, or noun derivative of cliquer to make noise, resound, imitative word parallel to click 1
Explanation
A clique is an exclusive group of people or friends. Before Rudolph pulled Santa's sled through the fog, the clique of flying reindeer never let him play their reindeer games. In high school, the exclusive nature of cliques causes a lot of hurt feelings. Clique carries this less than nice feeling with it wherever it goes, whether it be a set of elites who surround a government official, a group of popular kids who don't let others join their group or the closed circle of people at the office who always make sure they get the best jobs.
Vocabulary lists containing clique
100 SAT words Beginning with "C"
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The Catcher in the Rye
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Bronx Masquerade
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The “Mormon Wives,” a group of women associated with the social media clique known as #MomTok, never neatly fit the internet’s definition of tradwives, either.
From Salon ● Sep. 12, 2026
Independent non-executive chair Chris Train stepped down on Friday after the report described the firm's leadership as an "unaccountable clique".
From BBC ● May 1, 2026
His clique at OpenAI became known as “the pandas.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 28, 2026
Set in a Dallas shopping mall, “Forbidden Fruits” revolves around an elite clique of retail employees who run a witches’ coven out of the basement of their boho boutique Free Eden.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 25, 2026
We kind of have our own little clique now.
From "Bronx Masquerade" by Nikki Grimes
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.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 17, 2026
Several male chimps who had bridged cliques within the larger group died from disease, weakening social ties.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 9, 2026
Former captain Steven Gerrard's recent observation that they were simply "egotistical losers" also plays into the club cliques argument that has come to the fore since many retired as players.
From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2025
“Unlike high school cliques, in the political world, you didn’t have to be pretty, athletic, funny, or cool,” Stout recounted in her Substack.
From Slate ● Sep. 23, 2025
But the possibility that the team might break up into cliques based on country or tribe or language was always there.
From "Outcasts United: An American Town, a Refugee Team, and One Woman's Quest to Make a Difference" by Warren St. John
So the thing about Elon Musk is that he’s cliqued up — specifically with the so-called PayPal Mafia.
From The Verge ● Sep. 1, 2022
The Frenchmen are cliqued against him, for Vieuxtemps has arrived, and they mean to maintain his superiority.
From Early Letters of George Wm. Curtis by George Willis Cooke
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
