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A cabal is a group of people who are united in some close design, usually to promote their private views or interests in an ideology, a state, or another community, often by and usually without the knowledge of those who are outside their group. The use of this term usually carries negative connotations of political purpose, conspiracy and secrecy. It can also refer to a secret plot or a clique, or it may be used as a verb (to form a cabal or secretly conspire).
It came into English via the French cabale from the medieval Latin cabbala, and was known early in the 17th century through usages linked to Charles II and Oliver Cromwell. By the middle of the 17th century, it had developed further to mean some intrigue entered into by a small group and also referred to the group of people so involved, i.e. a semi-secret political clique.
There is a theory that the term took on its present meaning from a group of ministers formed in 1668 – the "Cabal ministry" of King Charles II of England. Members included Sir Thomas Clifford, Lord Arlington, the Duke of Buckingham, Lord Ashley and Lord Lauderdale, whose initial letters coincidentally spelled CABAL, and who were the signatories of the public Treaty of Dover that allied England to France in a prospective war against the Netherlands, and served as a cover for the Secret Treaty of Dover.Durant, Will and Ariel. The Age of Louis XIV. (page 277) New York: Simon And Schuster, 1963. The theory that the word originated as an acronym from the names of the group of ministers is a folk etymology, although the coincidence was noted at the time and could possibly have popularized its use.
Some anti-government movements in Australia, particularly those that emerged during Canberra's response to the pandemic, that Scott Morrison’s secret ministerial appointments were evidence of what they said was happening all along – a "secret cabal". Lydia Khalil, Morrison’s secret appointments are a slippery slope, Lowy Institute, 31 August 2022.
The term is sometimes employed as an antisemitic dog whistle due to its evocation of centuries-old antisemitic tropes. (2025). 9781032059693, Routledge. ISBN 9781032059693
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