1. a small, exclusive group of people who share common interests and often exclude others
Usage: often implies exclusivity or elitism

Examples

• The popular clique at school rarely talked to anyone outside their group.
• She felt left out because she wasn’t part of the theater clique.
• The office clique always ate lunch together and gossiped about their coworkers.
• He tried to break into the clique of senior executives but found them unwelcoming.
• The art students formed a tight clique that met every Friday after class.
• Parents complained that the school’s cliques were creating social divisions among students.