cabal
/kəˈbal
/noun
1A secret political clique or faction: a cabal of dissidents...
- In a party with its cliques and cabals, his distinguishing characteristic is that he has always had an independent streak, looking out for himself and refusing to rely on others.
- Indeed, cliques and cabals spring up and create their own behavioral benchmarks, codes of conduct simultaneously acting inclusive and exclusive.
- We do need to move forward, but as individual states with a common goal, not a superstate dominated by cliques, cabals and vested interests.
Synonyms
clique, faction, coterie, group, set, band, party, camp, gang, ring, cell, sect, caucus, league, confederacy, junta;
pressure group;
British ginger group;
Australian/New Zealand push
historical junto
rare camarilla
1.1 archaic A secret intrigue.In the popular political imagination we're familiar with the neocons as conniving militarists, masters of intrigue and cabals, graspers for the oil supplies of the world, and all the rest....
- If there is in existence a genuine cabal of intrigue and perfidy, the logical targets of such accusations were surely the members of the regime.
Origin
Late 16th century (denoting the Kabbalah): from French cabale, from medieval Latin cabala (see Kabbalah).
Historically, cabal was a committee of five ministers under Charles II of England (1630–85), whose surnames began with C, A, B, A, and L (Clifford, Arlington, Buckingham, Ashley (Earl of Shaftesbury), and Lauderdale). However, the first recorded use of cabal (from French cabale) was in reference to the Cabbala, the ancient Jewish tradition of mystical interpretation of the Bible. Medieval Latin cabala is the source of several variants of Cabbala, including Kabbalah (the preferred modern spelling), Kabbala, Cabala, and Qabalah, based on a rabbinical Hebrew word for ‘tradition’.