clientele

UK[klaɪ.n̩ˈtɛl]US/ˌklaɪ.ənˈtɛl/

nounC1Common in everyday speech and writing · #6,685 of 15,258neutral

Clientele is all the customers of a business taken together. A wealthy clientele, build a clientele, the usual clientele.

It is a collective noun and takes a singular verb, so a clientele is rather than are. It carries a faint suggestion of a particular sort of customer, which is why a bar has one and a supermarket does not.

Definitions of clientele

1nounclienteleAll the customers of a business taken together.C1
“The café's clientele is mostly students and young families.”

clientele is a customers.

Where it comes from

French clientele comes from Latin cliens, a dependant or follower.

Proto-Indo-European
*ḱlew-
Latin
cliēns
French
clientèle
English, today
clientele

French clientèle, ultimately from Latin cliēns (English client).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practise this word

clientele in the wild

The ski resort is considered exclusive, attracting wealthy clientele including royal families.
Courchevel
The restaurant attracts a clientele that ranges from Harlem locals to visiting celebrities.
Sylvia's Restaurant of Harlem
Drouais's work was admired during his lifetime, and his popularity and clientele did not diminish from the occasional adverse judgement published in Salon reviews.
François-Hubert Drouais
In contrast to its market competitors, Kiehl's is distinguished for its unorthodox marketing approach, exceptionally large male clientele base, and its products' simple and straightforward packaging.
Kiehl's

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

Related words

the cliēns family

client

clientele — used about once every 2,103 pages · #6,685 · point at the bar for the others

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