coterie ˈkoʊdəri noun
: an exclusive circle of people with a common purpose
The word coterie has appeared in 86 articles on NYTimes.com in the past year, including on July 10 in the Opinion essay “When Novels Mattered,” by David Brooks. In the essay, Mr. Brooks urges writers to be independent thinkers in order to create the best possible work:
If the social pressures right around you are powerful, you’re going to write for the coterie of people who consciously or unconsciously enforce them, and of course, your writing will be small and just like everyone else’s. If you write in fear of social exile, your villains will suck. You’ll assign them a few one-dimensional malevolences, but you won’t make them compelling and, in their dark way, seductive. You won’t want to be seen as endorsing views or characters that might get you canceled.
Daily Word Challenge
Can you correctly use the word coterie in a sentence?
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