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View synonyms for clique

clique

[ klik, kleek ]

noun

  1. a small, exclusive group of people; coterie; set.


verb (used without object)

, cliqued, cli·quing.
  1. Informal. to form, or associate in, a clique.

clique

/ klɪk; kliːk /

noun

  1. a small, exclusive group of friends or associates
“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


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Derived Forms

  • ˈcliquishness, noun
  • ˈcliquish, adjective
  • ˈcliquishly, adverb
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Other Words From

  • clique·less adjective
  • cli·quey cli·quy adjective
  • cli·quism noun
  • sub·clique noun
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Word History and Origins

Origin of clique1

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
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Word History and Origins

Origin of clique1

C18: from French, perhaps from Old French: latch, from cliquer to click; suggestive of the necessity to exclude nonmembers
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Synonym Study

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Example Sentences

If tech giant CEOs were a high school clique, Mukesh Ambani would be its newest member, and everyone’s invited to a party at his house.

From Quartz

As a general rule, to prove Keller’s conjecture in dimension n, you use dice with n dots and try to find a clique of size 2n.

The question of whether it’s possible to find a clique of size 128 is a similar kind of problem.

Prove that such a clique can’t exist, on the other hand, and you’ve proved the conjecture true.

Find that clique, and you’ve proved Keller’s conjecture false in dimension seven.

Her travel clique has been known to arrive at an airport, bags packed, passport-in-hand, within hours of spotting a deal.

How ironic that the Hermit Kingdom is taking the blame for our first real look inside a clique that not even Vice dares penetrate.

The center-right hedge fund clique known as Third Way, and associated Blue Dogs and hangers on.

Not only is post-Yanukovych Ukraine dominated by a fascist clique, it is controlled by unnatural women.

A clique of GOP lawmakers say the debt ceiling crisis is a hoax.

Occasionally a clique seeks to get control of a corporation by the issue of new stock and taking it among themselves.

Such a clique of professional friends would sink a stronger man than Trevithick.

And at any rate it is another chance for this distracted archipelago of children, sat upon by a clique of fools.

They must be national; words that are the property of the mass of the people, not of a clique or a district.

Like words that are used by a small region are words which are understood by a clique of persons.

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