Coteries (7)
I believe the answer is:
cliques
<span class="explanation-format__ClueExplanation">'<span class="explanation-format__original">coteries</span>' is the definition.<br/ ><span class="explanation-format__explanation">('clique' can be a synonym of 'coterie')</span><br/ ><br/ >This is all the clue.<br/ ></span>
(Other definitions for cliques that I've seen before include "Exclusive groups" , "Sets" .)