clique

[ klik, kleek ]

/ klɪk, klik /

Save This Word!

See synonyms for: clique / cliquey on Thesaurus.com

noun

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

verb (used without object), cliqued, cli·quing.

Informal. to form, or associate in, a clique.

QUIZ

CAN YOU ANSWER THESE COMMON GRAMMAR DEBATES?

There are grammar debates that never die; and the ones highlighted in the questions in this quiz are sure to rile everyone up once again. Do you know how to answer the questions that cause some of the greatest grammar debates?

Question 1 of 7

Which sentence is correct?

His boss, whom he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

His boss, who he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of clique

1705–15; <French, apparently metaphorical use of Middle French clique latch, or noun derivative of cliquer to make noise, resound, imitative word parallel to click¹

synonym study for clique

1. See circle, ring¹.

OTHER WORDS FROM clique

clique·less, adjectivecli·quey, cli·quy, adjectivecli·quism, nounsub·clique, noun

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH clique

1. claque, clique 2. click, clique

Words nearby clique

clipping, clipshears, clipsheet, clip someone's wings, clipt, clique, cliquey, cliquish, clishmaclaver, clisis, Clisthenes

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use clique in a sentence

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.
Reliance Jio is India’s answer to Amazon, AT&T, and Huawei—all rolled into one|Niharika Sharma|August 28, 2020|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.
Computer Search Settles 90-Year-Old Math Problem|Kevin Hartnett|August 19, 2020|Quanta Magazine
The question of whether it’s possible to find a clique of size 128 is a similar kind of problem.
Computer Search Settles 90-Year-Old Math Problem|Kevin Hartnett|August 19, 2020|Quanta Magazine
Prove that such a clique can’t exist, on the other hand, and you’ve proved the conjecture true.
Computer Search Settles 90-Year-Old Math Problem|Kevin Hartnett|August 19, 2020|Quanta Magazine

Find that clique, and you’ve proved Keller’s conjecture false in dimension seven.
Computer Search Settles 90-Year-Old Math Problem|Kevin Hartnett|August 19, 2020|Quanta Magazine
Her travel clique has been known to arrive at an airport, bags packed, passport-in-hand, within hours of spotting a deal.
‘We Out Here’: Inside the New Black Travel Movement|Charlise Ferguson|January 4, 2015|DAILY BEAST
How ironic that the Hermit Kingdom is taking the blame for our first real look inside a clique that not even Vice dares penetrate.
Pyongyang Shuffle: Hollywood In Dead Panic Over Sony Hack|James Poulos|December 19, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The center-right hedge fund clique known as Third Way, and associated Blue Dogs and hangers on.
One of the Midterms’ Little-Noticed Big Losers: The NRA|Cliff Schecter|November 10, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Not only is post-Yanukovych Ukraine dominated by a fascist clique, it is controlled by unnatural women.
Want a Good Look at Putin’s Pervy Propaganda? See ‘The Furies of Maidan’|Cathy Young|April 25, 2014|DAILY BEAST
A clique of GOP lawmakers say the debt ceiling crisis is a hoax.
The GOP’s Top 10 Debt Ceiling Denialists|Patricia Murphy|October 7, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Occasionally a clique seeks to get control of a corporation by the issue of new stock and taking it among themselves.
Putnam's Handy Law Book for the Layman|Albert Sidney Bolles
Such a clique of professional friends would sink a stronger man than Trevithick.
Life of Richard Trevithick, Volume II (of 2)|Francis Trevithick
And at any rate it is another chance for this distracted archipelago of children, sat upon by a clique of fools.
The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson - Swanston Edition Vol. 25 (of 25)|Robert Louis Stevenson
They must be national; words that are the property of the mass of the people, not of a clique or a district.
English: Composition and Literature|W. F. (William Franklin) Webster
Like words that are used by a small region are words which are understood by a clique of persons.
English: Composition and Literature|W. F. (William Franklin) Webster

British Dictionary definitions for clique

clique

/ (kliːk, klɪk) /

noun

a small, exclusive group of friends or associates

Derived forms of clique

cliquish, adjectivecliquishly, adverbcliquishness, noun

Word Origin for clique

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

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

clique

Origin of clique

synonym study for clique

OTHER WORDS FROM clique

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH clique

Words nearby clique

Words related to clique

How to use clique in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for clique

Derived forms of clique

Word Origin for clique