a small, exclusive circle of people; snobbish or narrow coterie
Origin of clique
French from Old French cliquer, to make a noise: of echoic origin, originally
noun
The definition of a clique is a small, closed off group of people.
The popular group in high school is an example of a clique.
YourDictionary definition and usage example. Copyright © 2018 by LoveToKnow Corp
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"clique." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 14 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/clique>.
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clique. (n.d.). Retrieved January 14th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/clique
clique
Webster's New World College Dictionary, Fifth Edition Copyright © 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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"clique." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 14 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/clique>.
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clique. (n.d.). Retrieved January 14th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/clique
clique
noun
A small exclusive group of friends or associates.
intransitive verb
cliqued, cliqu·ing, cliques InformalTo form, associate in, or act as a clique.
Origin of clique
French from Old French latch or from obsolete French cliquer to click, clink of imitative originRelated Forms:
- cliqu′ey cliqu′y cliqu′ish
adjective
- cliqu′ish·ly
adverb
- cliqu′ish·ness
noun
THE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FIFTH EDITION by the Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. Copyright © 2016, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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MLA Style
"clique." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 14 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/clique>.
APA Style
clique. (n.d.). Retrieved January 14th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/clique
Noun
(plural cliques)
- A small, exclusive group of individuals; cabal
- This school used to be really friendly, but now everyone keeps to their own cliques.
- (graph theory) A subgraph isomorphic to a complete graph.
- The problem of finding the largest clique in an arbitrary graph is NP-complete.
- (Internet) A group of related web sites that link to each other, like a webring but with exclusive membership determined by the clique owner.
Verb
(third-person singular simple present cliques, present participle cliquing, simple past and past participle cliqued)
Usage notes
- Often used in the form clique together.
English Wiktionary. Available under CC-BY-SA license.
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MLA Style
"clique." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 14 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/clique>.
APA Style
clique. (n.d.). Retrieved January 14th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/clique
Sentence Examples
- The principal members of this clique were William B.
- But the king replaced them with a new clique of servile and rapacious favourites.
- The nomination was brought about by the Cordoba clique, and Roca lacked the moral courage to oppose the decision.
- In so far as these had other causes than the Anglo-Saxon love of faction, they were due to the formation by the loyalists, their descendants and hangers-on of a clique who more and more engrossed political and social power.
- The Union Civica then decided to make a bold bid for freedom by attempting forcibly to eject Celman and his clique from office.
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