coterie

[ koh-tuh-ree ]

/ ˈkoʊ tə ri /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR coterie ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a group of people who associate closely.

an exclusive group; clique.

a group of prairie dogs occupying a communal burrow.

RELATED WORDS

cadre, circle

Nearby words

coteach, cotehardie, cotemporary, cotenant, cotentin, coterie, coterminous, coth, cothamore, cothromboplastin, cothurnus

Origin of coterie

1730–40; < French, Middle French: an association of tenant farmers < Medieval Latin coter(ius) cotter² + -ie -y³

Synonym study

1. See circle.

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

Examples from the Web for coterie

Yet as Emily Bazelon revealed in Slate, a coterie of right-wing organizations has indeed lined up to oppose contraception itself.
Do Corporations Believe in God? The ‘Hobby Lobby’ Case Has the Answer|Jay Michaelson|March 22, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Barbra Streisand and Denzel Washington, along with a coterie of A-listers, have sent their toddlers there.
Elite America’s Summer Preschool Madness|Eliza Shapiro|June 23, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Quick-witted, sharp-tongued, and flirtatious, Anne drew a coterie of men to her, and each would lose his head for her.
Why Does Anne Boleyn Obsess Us?|Lauren Elkin|April 25, 2013|DAILY BEAST
While Aspinall provided the wealthy clientele, the mobsters provided a coterie of highly skilled cardsharps.
Lord Lucan’s Whereabouts: The Tabloid Rebirth of a Decades-Old Crime|William Coles|February 25, 2012|DAILY BEAST

And President Bashar al-Assad, no doubt, sees that his coterie of regional despots is thinning out.
Can the Rebels Hang On?|Babak Dehghanpisheh|August 27, 2011|DAILY BEAST
Shakespeare did not write for a coterie: yet he produced some works of considerable subtlety and profundity.
Play-Making|William Archer
But the king and his coterie were very angry, and assailed the duke in the most violent terms of condemnation.
Louis Philippe|John S. C. (John Stevens Cabot) Abbott
Cicily, my dear, I think you are well rid of that coterie of cats.
Making People Happy|Thompson Buchanan
Make her, therefore, of your coterie, if she is with you while the piece is in your possession.
The Diary and Letters of Madame D'Arblay, Vol. 1 (of 3)|Fanny Burney
Each had his coterie of friends and well wishers who had gathered to give him a rousing send off.
Bert Wilson's Twin Cylinder Racer|J. W. Duffield

British Dictionary definitions for coterie

coterie

/ (ˈkəʊtərɪ) /

noun

a small exclusive group of friends or people with common interests; clique

Word Origin for coterie

C18: from French, from Old French: association of tenants, from cotier (unattested) cottager, from Medieval Latin cotārius cotter ²; see cot ²

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

coterie

noun

RELATED CONTENT

RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

Origin of coterie

Synonym study

Examples from the Web for coterie

British Dictionary definitions for coterie

coterie

noun

Word Origin for coterie