Claque
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A group of people hired to attend a performance and to either applaud or boo. collective
"The most popular singers have been obliged to give free tickets and even to donate cash, lest the claque retaliate by frantic applause at the wrong moment."
- 2 a group of followers hired to applaud at a performance wordnet
- 3 A group of fawning admirers. broadly
"The most obvious gay connection to opera is the cult of the diva. Stauncher even than the fans of Garland of Striesand, the claques of Maria Callas and Joan Sutherland (among others) have been fanatical in their devotion. Going beyond the usual "appreciation stage" the fans glorify and deify their stars: Callas was "La Divina," Sutherland "La Stupenda.""
- 4 A group of people who pre-arrange among themselves to express strong support for an idea, so as to give the false impression of a wider consensus. broadly
Example
More examples"The most popular singers have been obliged to give free tickets and even to donate cash, lest the claque retaliate by frantic applause at the wrong moment."
Etymology
Borrowed from French claque (“group of people hired to applaud or boo, claque”, literally “a slap; a clap”).
Related phrases
More for "claque"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.