According to the dictionary, the word ‘cabal’ carries the following meanings.
1. A small group of secret plotters, as against a government or person in authority. (N)
2. The plots and schemes of such a group; intrigue. (N)
3. To form a cabal; intrigue; conspire; plot. (V)
In terms of application, the word ‘cabal’ signifies a coming together of more than two parties, usually for some vested interest of their own. To achieve this interest, they generally take the help of plots, schemes and intrigues. Generally, this term has a negative connotation and its usage does have the implications of negative influence and insidious planning.
A few example of its usage are:
1. The long beleaguered citizens of Egypt have triumphed, after thirty years of deployment of arbitrary power by Mubarak and his military cabal.
2. They live in a world of paranoid fantasies, where some secret cabal is supposedly trying to set up a world government to take away their freedoms.
3. The conservative cabal is shrewd, unified and extremely well funded; they won’t let something as simple as e-mail messages get in the way of their long range plans to permanently take control of the US Government.
