clique

I

(New American Roget's College Thesaurus)

n. set, circle, group, coterie.

See party, assemblage, exclusion.

II

(Roget's IV) n.

Syn. coterie, set, circle, group, clan, club, inner circle, ring, band, gang, crew, faction, cabal, junta, network, salon, crowd*, in-group*, bunch*, mob*; see also faction 1 , organization 3 .

Syn.- clique refers to a small, highly exclusive group, often within a larger one, and implies snobbery, selfishness, or, sometimes, intrigue [ high-school cliques] ; coterie is a small, intimate, somewhat select group of people associated for social or other reasons [ a literary coterie] ; circle suggests any group of people having in common some particular interest or pursuit [ in music circles] ; set refers to a group, usually larger and, hence, less exclusive than a coterie , having a common background, interests, social status, etc. [ the sporting set]

III

(Roget's 3 Superthesaurus) (VOCABULARY WORD) n.

[KLIK]

an exclusive group or circle of people, sometimes of a snobbish nature.

High school is notorious for its cliques.

SYN.: coterie, group, crowd, in crowd, circle, band, clan, set, gang, faction, bunch, crew, pack.

IV

(Roget's Thesaurus II) noun A particular social group: circle, coterie, crowd, set2. Informal: bunch, gang. See GROUP.