Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A small exclusive group of friends or associates.
- v. Informal To form, associate in, or act as a clique.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A party; a set; a coterie; specifically, a body or group of persons associated informally for some exclusive or intriguing purpose.
- To form cliques or exclusive sets; associate together in cliques, usually with unworthy or selfish motives.
Wiktionary
- n. A small, exclusive group of individuals; cabal
- n. A subgraph isomorphic to a complete graph.
- n. A group of related web sites that link to each other, like a webring but with exclusive membership determined by the clique owner.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. A narrow circle of persons associated by common interests or for the accomplishment of a common purpose; -- generally used in a bad sense.
- v. To To associate together in a clannish way; to act with others secretly to gain a desired end; to plot; -- used with together.
WordNet 3.0
- n. an exclusive circle of people with a common purpose
Etymologies
- French, from Old French, latch or from obsolete French cliquer, to click, clink, of imitative origin.
Examples
“We'll have a look today at a brand new documentary, filmmakers going inside Enron's company walls to expose what they call a clique of corporate cowboys.”
“But sanctions are available under the Civil Rules, However, the injured party must make a motion for sanctions and the Attorney-Judge clique is too incestuous to grant (or even to bring) these types of motions. fed”
“I have little time in my elitist life to contribute comments to mere comic book sites such as this, not when my clique is gathering to have a conceit party against whatever the hell we think is beneath us.”
“The old clique is being edged out by conservative, Western oriented and devout Muslims.”
Turkey Fights For A Secular Islam « Unambiguously Ambidextrous
“Sitting amidst this scared, insecure clique is Reiser, spinning a web of bullshit like a master hypnotist.”
“Once the clique is born, members communicate with each other via e-mail, chat, discussion boards and instant messaging.”
“The present military clique is taking full advantage of this and similar ancient beliefs.”
“The independent Miss Blythe, whom a certain clique of Junior Red Cross girls accused of being domineering and "bossy," was thoroughly cowed.”
“I would also be a bit suspicious of the apparently inside track of the admin clique but if you’re up for it, then it would certainly be interesting.”
“The two bosuns are in fear of their lives with this clique, which is growing; for Steve Roberts, the ex-cowboy, and the white-slaver, Arthur”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘clique’.
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GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4084 more...
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Dramatic Nouns
Nouns to be used as descriptions while writing stories
night owl, early bird, hedonist, ascetic, derelict, explorer, radical, pity friend, cupid, truant, caretaker, guardian and 120 more...
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Of Imitative Origin
Words formed in imitation of the sound of the things they signify.
bawl, biff, blizzard, blob, blooper, bob, boff, bomb, bonkers, boo, borborygmus, brouhaha and 148 more...
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Groups
Words synonymous with 'group.'
congregation, crowd, gaggle, flock, clique, bunch, cluster, herd, mass, mob, multitude, organization and 118 more...
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Tricky Words from French
Loanwords from French -- both established and wet behind the ears -- that are tricky to spell or pronounce properly.
trompe l'oeil, hors d'oeuvre, oeuvre, objet d'art, objet trouvé, contretemps, milieu, métier, mise en scène, mise en place, éclat, faineant and 64 more...
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Loan words from French
gite, coq au vin, dernier cri, clique, hors d'œuvre, touché, naïve, coquette, bourgeois, contretemps, flâneur, film noir and 63 more...
uselessness Wordie. Jun 26, 2007
seanahan A fully connected subgraph. Apr 16, 2007