Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition


Camarilla


Caˊma-ril′la

,
Noun.
[Sp., a small room.]
1.
The private audience chamber of a king.
2.
A company of secret and irresponsible advisers, as of a king; a cabal or clique.

Definition 2024


camarilla

camarilla

English

Noun

camarilla (plural camarillas)

  1. A secret, usually sinister, group of conspiring advisors close to the leadership; a cabal
    • "The same lack of accountability has been even more disastrous for the two state-owned banks, which exist primarily to funnel IMF and World Bank funds to the president and his camarilla in the form of unsecured loans." Wall Street Journal, September 20, 1990

French

Etymology

From Spanish

Noun

camarilla f (plural camarillas)

  1. camarilla

Italian

Etymology

Spanish

Noun

camarilla f (plural camarille)

  1. camarilla

Spanish

Etymology

From cámara (chamber) and the diminutive suffix -illa.

Noun

camarilla f (plural camarillas)

  1. A secret, usually sinister, group of conspiring advisors close to the leadership; a cabal
    • "El objetivo implícito de esta línea de pensamiento es un mundo de pesadilla en el que el líder, o alguna camarilla gobernante, controla no sólo el futuro sino también el pasado." George Orwell, «Mirando hacia atrás a la guerra civil española.» (otoño de 1942)