claque
[klak]
- a group of persons hired to applaud an act or performer.
- a group of sycophants.
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Origin of claque
1860–65; < French, derivative of claquer to clap
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for claque
Contemporary Examples
To save the banking system, Greenspan, along with a claque of Republicans like Lindsey Graham, now endorses nationalization.
Historical Examples
At the end of the performance he sent for the leader of the claque and rated him soundly.
Artists' WivesAlphonse Daudet
But whatever may be said against it, the claque is great and, in France at least, will prevail.
Old and New Paris, v. 2Henry Sutherland Edwards
They have attained to absolute perfection in the arts of the claque.
But his programme was too long, and he had forgotten something—the claque.
Nicolo Paganini: His Life and WorkStephen Samuel Stratton
It was their fault that it got about that I had hired a claque to clap me!
The Story of My LifeEllen Terry
claque
- a group of people hired to applaud
- a group of fawning admirers
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Word Origin
C19: from French, from claquer to clap, of imitative origin
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 claque
n.
1860, from French claque "band of claqueurs," agent noun from claquer "to clap" (16c.), echoic (cf. clap (v.)). Modern sense of "band of political followers" is transferred from that of "organized applause at theater." Claqueur "audience memeber who gives pre-arranged responses in a theater performance" is in English from 1837.
This method of aiding the success of public performances is very ancient; but it first became a permanent system, openly organized and controlled by the claquers themselves, in Paris at the beginning of the nineteenth century. [Century Dictionary]
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper