cabal
noun
a small group of secret plotters, as against a government or person in authority.
cabal
American
[kuh-bal, kuh-bawl]
/ kəˈbæl, kəˈbɔl /
noun
-
cabals
plural
verb (used without object)
-
cabals,
present (3rd person singular)
-
caballed,
past participle, past participle, past (especially British)
-
cabaled,
past
-
caballing
present participle, present participle (especially British)
cabal
1
British
/ kəˈbæl /
noun
-
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
verb
Cabal
2
British
/ kəˈbæl /
noun
Synonym Usage
See conspiracy.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
cabalsimple
-
cabalssimple
-
have caballedperfect
-
has caballedperfect
-
am caballingprogressive
-
are caballingprogressive
-
is caballingprogressive
-
have been caballingperfect progressive
-
has been caballingperfect progressive
Past
-
cabaledsimple
-
caballedsimple
-
had caballedperfect
-
was caballingprogressive
-
were caballingprogressive
-
had been caballingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of cabal
First recorded in 1610–20, for an earlier sense; earlier cabbal, from Medieval Latin cabbala; see kabbalah
Explanation
A cabal is a secret plot, or a small group of people who create such a plot. Some conspiracy theories are based on the idea that governments worldwide are in the hands of a powerful cabal. Cabal comes from the word cabbala (also spelled kabbala), which refers to a Jewish tradition of interpreting texts. Cabbala is often regarded as a secret and mystical practice and, as such, the word took on the additional meaning of “secret behavior.” Cabal comes from this sense of the word. A well-known cabal in 17th-century England was coincidentally made up of five members whose names’ initial letters spelled the word cabal. (Their names were Clifford, Arlington, Buckingham, Ashley, and Lauderdale.)
Vocabulary lists containing cabal
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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Hidden Figures
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The Federalist Papers, No. 10 by James Madison
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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:
Conspiracy theories surfaced online that the whale had been deliberately driven into the Baltic Sea and all had been staged by a cabal of scientists, authorities and environmental organisations.
From Barron's ● Apr. 23, 2026
This is evidently what the investment cabal has done.
From MarketWatch ● Jan. 16, 2026
It seemed reasonable to assume that once Patel realized that there was no cabal running the bureau, he would be able to calm everyone down.
From Slate ● Dec. 16, 2025
The danger here goes beyond the podcast cabal and a misguided think-tank leader.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 2, 2025
Once we passed a cabal of figures in black cloaks and tricornes carrying torches and whispering together.
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party" by M.T. Anderson
However, Lang made it 2-2 just after half-time and Davinson Sanchez put Galatasaray back in the lead before Juventus had Juan Cabal sent off.
From Barron's ● Feb. 17, 2026
Edmond Mulet, who competed in the first round of presidential voting for the conservative Cabal party, said he counts Arévalo as a friend.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 22, 2023
As part of a new center-right party, Cabal, Mulet has promised a monthly stipend of $64 to the elderly, free medicine and to fight extortion by gangs.
From Reuters ● Jun. 25, 2023
On a steamy evening at Flushing Meadows Corona Park in Queens, Jaime Cabal had a line of customers at his Mister Softee ice cream truck.
From New York Times ● Jul. 26, 2022
Rupert had no liking for intrigues, and he held himself equally aloof from those of Shaftesbury, and those of the Cabal.
From Rupert Prince Palatine by Eva Scott
That Epstein’s crimes were confined to himself and a few enablers, chiefly Ghislaine Maxwell, was intolerable to influencers and politicos determined to attribute all bad things to the dark workings of cabals.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 11, 2026
We’ve also reached a point in the season at which previous groups of Traitors turned on each other for reasons similar to those that do in tyrannical cabals: mutual envy, paranoia and greed.
From Salon ● Jan. 28, 2026
These stories offered agency: Evil cabals could be defeated.
From New York Times ● Jan. 29, 2021
“As soon as they heard that, a lot of cabals here in Hollywood, that’s all they needed to hear. It’s like, ‘OK, she must be destroyed.’
From Washington Times ● Oct. 3, 2019
Men muttered in small cabals or threatened one another by the fireside, cutting each other with their eyes and hissing, vaunting superiority in their familiarity with the Unseen.
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson
The King, regarding it as a blow at the power of the Crown, caballed and canvassed the Peers against it.
From The Impeachment of The House of Brunswick by Charles Bradlaugh
The three last-named persons often held little conspiracies together, and caballed or grumbled against the head of the house.
From The Virginians by William Makepeace Thackeray
Europe was fluttered, secret service money was poured out like water, diplomatists caballed and scribbled despatches, all for very little.
From Pickle the Spy; Or, the Incognito of Prince Charles by Andrew Lang
He caballed with the very men to whom he had hitherto been most vehemently opposed for the sole object of expelling Lord Shelburne from office.
From The Constitutional History of England from 1760 to 1860 by Charles Duke Yonge
A club of wits caballed and produced a collection of short poems sarcastically entitled “Certain Verses written by several of the Author’s Friends, to be reprinted in the Second Edition of ‘Gondibert,’” 1653.
From Calamities and Quarrels of Authors by Isaac Disraeli
Henry Kissinger happened to be visiting London at the time and witnessed the caballing against her.
From Newsweek ● Apr. 8, 2013
A man of real Merit cannot connect himself with those who are addicted to caballing; and yet such are the Persons, who frequently conduct others.
From Advice to the people in general, with regard to their health by S. A. D. (Samuel Auguste David) Tissot
What those caballing captains may design, I must prevent, by being first in action.—
From The works of John Dryden, now first collected in eighteen volumes. Volume 07 by Sir Walter Scott
I do not believe that it is in his nature to be a month in office without caballing against his colleagues.
From Life and Letters of Lord Macaulay Volume 1 by Sir George Otto Trevelyan
That their perpetual caballing with her factious subjects, against her authority, had forced her into such measures, as otherwise she would not have engaged in.
From The Prose Works of Jonathan Swift, D.D. — Volume 10 Historical Writings by Jonathan Swift
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.
