What does “clique” mean?

clique


Oh, this is a good one —

A clique is a small, tight group of friends who mostly stick together and don't really let others in. Think of it like a little "members only" club.

You see this a lot in high school stories — like, "She wanted to sit with them at lunch, but that clique always kept to themselves." Or maybe, "The popular kids had their own clique and were kind of mean about it."

It can also come up at work — "There's a clique in the office that always goes to lunch together and leaves everyone else out."

The word usually has a slightly negative feeling to it, like the group is being a little unfriendly or exclusive on purpose.

So yeah — a clique is a closed little group that's hard to break into.

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