claque

Etymology

. Installed in Schwetzingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany, it depicts a claque (sense 1).]] From French claque (“group of people hired to applaud or boo, claque”, literally “a slap; a clap”), from claquer (“of hands: to clap”) (paying audience members to applaud having started at the Paris Opera), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *klakōną (“to clap; to clack; to chirp, tweet, twitter”), from Proto-Indo-European *glag- (“to make a noise; to chatter, chirp”).

noun

1. (collective) A group of people hired to attend a performance and to either applaud or boo.
   The most popular singers have been obliged to give free tickets and even to donate cash, lest the claque retaliate by frantic applause at the wrong moment. 23 February 1930, “Theatre claqueurs in Vienna form union; now get two Wienerwursts for simple applause, six with beer for special ovations”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2021-07-28, page 4, column 1
   The claque isn't paid. In fact, claqueurs pay to get in. The inducement is that they can buy standing room for half price, without waiting in line. 22 December 1957, John Briggs, “What every young claqueur should know”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2021-07-28, page 53, columns 4–7
2. (by extension)
   1. A group of fawning admirers.
   2. A group of people who pre-arrange among themselves to express strong support for an idea, so as to give the false impression of a wider consensus.