cliques

noun

plural of clique
as in networks
a group of people sharing a common interest and relating together socially that clique refuses to even talk to outsiders at their lunch table

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of cliques Amid the crushes, cliques, and teenage angst, two sisters set out to define themselves on their own terms. — Denise Petski, Deadline, 17 Aug. 2026 In a number of sensitive sectors, such as telecommunications, EVs, and drones, such cliques have already formed, setting bans and restrictions on the use of equipment from Chinese telecommunications companies Huawei and ZTE. — Michael B. G. Froman, Foreign Affairs, 13 Aug. 2026 That era involved small cliques of devs talking a big game about decentralization (which often provided a pretext for no accountability) while shilling tokens at all turns. — Jeff John Roberts, Fortune, 20 July 2026 Since its inception, social media has been a proving ground for tween fashion and identity, offering under-16s a digital canvas to experiment with their style and form online cliques around niche interests. — Sophie Lou Wilson, Vogue, 2 July 2026 Ramsey numbers for same-size red and blue cliques are called diagonal Ramsey numbers. — Leila Sloman, Quanta Magazine, 26 June 2026 Under Meza, player cliques developed, stars were pampered, discipline waned. — Scott M. Reid, Oc Register, 10 June 2026 Prosecutors said the killings were tied to Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13, a transnational gang that maintains a presence in Los Angeles through smaller groups, or cliques, including in the San Fernando Valley and around MacArthur Park. — Sydney Barragan, Daily News, 6 June 2026 What began as a search for community and understanding turned into an experience that felt akin to the cliques and social hierarchies of high school. — Hannah Nwoko, Parents, 6 June 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cliques
  1. networks
  2. communities
  3. circles
  4. crowds
  5. gangs
  6. packs
  7. clans
  8. covens
Noun
  • Shell companies, including those in oil, shipping, and investment, facilitate billions of dollars in transactions through networks spanning the United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong, and Singapore, according to the Treasury Department.
    — Leila Gharagozlou, CNN Money, 24 Aug. 2026
  • Platforms regularly used by children would be required to assess and report on the risks their networks posed, Luxon said.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 24 Aug. 2026
Definition of networks
Noun
  • Rescue teams and military helicopters searched Thursday for hundreds of missing people along the Nepal-China border, where a deadly torrent of water and mud several stories high swept through communities a day earlier following a glacier collapse.
    — Shristi Kafle, Fortune, 27 Aug. 2026
  • Expand rural behavioral health crisis response, local treatment capacity, and patient and staff safety in communities facing service gaps, recent trauma, and provider shortages.
    — Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Arkansas Online, 27 Aug. 2026
Definition of communities
Noun
  • Piker was known for years as a popular Twitch streamer before emerging this year as an increasingly influential political voice in certain Democratic circles that are seeking to push the party to the left.
    — Emily Hallas, The Washington Examiner, 21 Aug. 2026
  • All of this spins out from the White House in a series of concentric circles.
    — Robin Givhan, Vanity Fair, 19 Aug. 2026
Definition of circles
Noun
  • Its first regional drive-through shop opened in February 2024 in Fountain Valley, drawing pre-dawn crowds on opening day.
    — Brock Keeling, Oc Register, 24 Aug. 2026
  • There were huge crowds each day at the BMW event, testing Woodland’s physical and mental endurance.
    — Gary Bedore, Kansas City Star, 24 Aug. 2026
Definition of crowds
Noun
  • Mexico Government Smuggling gasoline and diesel from the United States into Mexico and reselling it tax-free is a huge money-maker for organized crime gangs, including drug cartels.
    — CBS News, CBS News, 28 Aug. 2026
  • Police spokesperson Garry Desrosiers took only a handful of questions from journalists at a news conference Thursday, just days after gangs attacked Kenscoff, a once-peaceful farming community nestled in the hills near Port-au-Prince.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 27 Aug. 2026
Definition of gangs
Noun
  • These snow packs are needed each year to melt slowly throughout the summer and fall providing crucial water supply to the state.
    — Jonathan Destler, Fortune, 27 Aug. 2026
  • Creating tech packs has long been a manual process that can take weeks or months depending on the nature of the design.
    — Roy Stephen Canivel, Footwear News, 27 Aug. 2026
Definition of packs
Noun
  • All Palestinian clans and families in Gaza would also be a target for disarmament, which would have an impact on the future of Hamas and Palestinian armed struggle.
    — Mkhaimar Abusada, The Conversation, 6 Aug. 2026
  • Scores attach to a profile, clans compete by country, challenges travel between friends.
    — Boaz Sobrado, Forbes.com, 2 Aug. 2026
Definition of clans
Noun
  • Season 2 sees Louis and Claudia in Europe — just in time for World War II — and both novel and show expand outward to include things like vampire covens and AMC tie-in series to the further reaches of Rice’s lore.
    — Sarah Shachat, IndieWire, 6 June 2026
  • The Last Witch Hunter, about the one man who stands between humanity and the most horrible witch covens imaginable, grossed $130 million at the worldwide box office at the time of its initial theatrical release in 2015.
    — Mike Fleming Jr, Deadline, 8 Sep. 2025
Definition of covens

Browse Nearby Words

clique
cliques
cliquey
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Cite this Entry

“Cliques.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cliques. Accessed 30 Aug. 2026.

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