cabal

[kuh-bal]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR cabal ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

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.

verb (used without object), ca·balled, ca·bal·ling.

to form a cabal; intrigue; conspire; plot.

RELATED WORDS

scheme, conspiracy, intrigue

Origin of cabal

1610–20, for an earlier sense; earlier cabbal < Medieval Latin cabbala. See cabala

Related formsca·bal·ler, noun

Can be confusedcabal cabala

Synonyms for cabal

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR cabal ON THESAURUS.COM

1. junta, faction, band, league, ring.

Synonym study

2. See conspiracy.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for cabal

Contemporary Examples of cabal

A cabal can do it, selling their influence to the highest bidder.
Valerie Jarrett, Obama Consigliere—and Democracy Killer
James Poulos
November 12, 2014
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 Street
Andrew Romano
January 18, 2014
LIBOR is the very definition of a rate set by a cabal, ripe for collusion.
Don’t Just Blame Banks for Barclays Interest-Rates Mess
Zachary Karabell
July 12, 2012
Silicon Valley has its own weaknesses: the cabal of successful investors is small and insular.
Don't De-Friend Facebook Yet: Its IPO Might Not Mean Trouble Ahead
Zachary Karabell
May 19, 2012
They even worry that a neo-con "cabal" has co-opted internal party debates, just as liberals have long maintained.
The New GOP Warmongers
Matt Latimer
March 22, 2011

Historical Examples of cabal

People denounced the Austrian cabal, and the queen as its centre.
Lectures on the French Revolution
John Emerich Edward Dalberg-Acton
The political conspiracy developed into what is known in history as the "Cabal."
Lafayette
Martha Foote Crow
By this plan several important ends are answered to the Cabal.
Thoughts on the Present Discontents
Edmund Burke
As a foundation of their scheme, the Cabal have established a sort of Rota in the Court.
Thoughts on the Present Discontents
Edmund Burke
Nor was this all: in London, there had already formed a cabal in favour of the Atheling.
Harold, Complete
Edward Bulwer-Lytton

British Dictionary definitions for cabal

cabal

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 -bals, -balling or -balled (intr)

to form a cabal; conspire; plot

Word Origin for cabal

C17: from French cabale, from Medieval Latin cabala; see cabbala

Cabal

noun

the Cabal English history a group of ministers of Charles II that governed from 1667–73: consisting of Clifford, Ashley, Buckingham, Arlington, and Lauderdale

Word Origin for Cabal

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 Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for cabal

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.