cliquish

as in clannish
bound together by feelings of very close association the cliquish White House press corps soon let him know that he was not on the A-list

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for cliquish
Adjective
  • Ambassadorships are often awarded to loyalists and supporters, but this appointment looks particularly clannish.
    Adriane Quinlan, Curbed, 22 Jan. 2025
  • The model relies on a dramatic shift in relations among officers and prisoners, two historically warring factions in a system built on clannish gamesmanship for survival.
    Tribune News Service, The Mercury News, 29 July 2024
Adjective
  • The island is also home to a wide selection of family friendly all-inclusive resorts, including the luxury all-inclusive Barceló Aruba.
    Katie Nadworny, Travel + Leisure, 27 Feb. 2025
  • The 20-year-old was called up to the Trinidad & Tobago national team in December for a friendly against Saudi Arabia.
    Braidon Nourse, The Denver Post, 16 Feb. 2025
Adjective
  • The idea is both familiar and transformative: public fridges, placed in neighborhoods, stocked by the people, for the people—no questions asked.
    The Glamour editors, Glamour, 8 Mar. 2025
  • Whatever the club’s reasoning, there was something familiar and troubling about this disappointing deadline paralysis.
    Thomas Drance, The Athletic, 8 Mar. 2025
Adjective
  • Leading this loud and lovingly close-knit multigenerational family is Suga Mama (Jo Marie Payton), the feisty grandma and matriarch.
    Lynnette Nicholas, Parents, 15 Jan. 2025
  • In her new Prime Video documentary Megan Thee Stallion: In Her Words, Grammy-winning rapper Megan Thee Stallion shares a close-knit look at her public triumphs and personal struggles behind the limelight.
    Sughnen Yongo, Forbes, 31 Oct. 2024
Adjective
  • But longtime close watchers of Epstein and his legal ordeal made the case in a series of posts on X that such a list may never emerge.
    Chad de Guzman, TIME, 28 Feb. 2025
  • Improvements encompass a new conference center on the north end, elevated seating, closer premium seating, and the new scoreboard.
    Tammy Ljungblad, Kansas City Star, 28 Feb. 2025
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.

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Cliquish.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cliquish. Accessed 12 Mar. 2025.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!