1 Definition
A small, secretive group of people working together to advance their own interests, often through plotting behind the scenes.
2 In Use
A cabal of wealthy donors quietly steered the committee's decisions long before the public ever voted.
3 Word Origin
qabbalah Heb. · received tradition → cabale Fr. · secret plot, clique → cabal 17th c. English
Cabal began as a Hebrew word for received tradition, used for the mystical teachings handed down within Jewish scholarship. It passed through Medieval Latin into French, where the idea of knowledge shared only among initiates drifted toward something more suspicious: a clique with hidden aims. By the early 1600s English borrowed it with that sharper edge, and it has meant a scheming inner circle ever since.
💡Fun Fact
In the 1670s, five advisers to King Charles II of England became known as the Cabal ministry. Their surnames happen to begin with the letters C, A, B, A, and L, and many people assume the word was born as an acronym. It was not. The word was already in use for political intrigue, and the neat spelling was a happy coincidence that helped the nickname stick. Today the word still turns up in politics, business, and fiction whenever a few insiders seem to be pulling the strings.
