cabal
[kuh-bal]
- a small group of secret plotters, as against a government or person in authority.
- the plots and schemes of such a group; intrigue.
- a clique, as in artistic, literary, or theatrical circles.
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- to form a cabal; intrigue; conspire; plot.
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Origin of cabal
Synonyms
See more synonyms for cabal on Thesaurus.com1. junta, faction, band, league, ring.
Synonym study
2. See conspiracy.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for cabal
Contemporary Examples
A cabal can do it, selling their influence to the highest bidder.
The arms dealer sells it to a mysterious neo-Nazi cabal, which then detonates it in Baltimore.
Want To Know What America Thinks of Itself? Watch Jack Ryan on Wall StreetAndrew Romano
January 18, 2014
LIBOR is the very definition of a rate set by a cabal, ripe for collusion.
Silicon Valley has its own weaknesses: the cabal of successful investors is small and insular.
They even worry that a neo-con "cabal" has co-opted internal party debates, just as liberals have long maintained.
Historical Examples
People denounced the Austrian cabal, and the queen as its centre.
Lectures on the French RevolutionJohn Emerich Edward Dalberg-Acton
The political conspiracy developed into what is known in history as the "Cabal."
LafayetteMartha Foote Crow
By this plan several important ends are answered to the Cabal.
Thoughts on the Present DiscontentsEdmund Burke
As a foundation of their scheme, the Cabal have established a sort of Rota in the Court.
Thoughts on the Present DiscontentsEdmund Burke
Nor was this all: in London, there had already formed a cabal in favour of the Atheling.
Harold, CompleteEdward Bulwer-Lytton
cabal
- a small group of intriguers, esp one formed for political purposes
- a secret plot, esp a political one; conspiracy; intrigue
- a secret or exclusive set of people; clique
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- to form a cabal; conspire; plot
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Word Origin
C17: from French cabale, from Medieval Latin cabala; see cabbala
Cabal
- the Cabal English history a group of ministers of Charles II that governed from 1667–73: consisting of Clifford, Ashley, Buckingham, Arlington, and Lauderdale
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Word Origin
see kabbalah; by a coincidence, the initials of Charles II's ministers can be arranged to form this word
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for cabal
n.
1520s, "mystical interpretation of the Old Testament," later "society, small group meeting privately" (1660s), from French cabal, in both senses, from Medieval Latin cabbala (see cabbala). Popularized in English 1673 as an acronym for five intriguing ministers of Charles II (Clifford, Arlington, Buckingham, Ashley, and Lauderdale), which gave the word its sinister connotations.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper