What does clientele mean?
Word: Clientele
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Clientele means the regular customers of a shop, restaurant or other business, thought of as one group.
How do you spell clientele?
Syllables: cli - en - tele
Tricky part: The close of the word is the trap. It is ele with a single l, so clientelle and clientel are both wrong.
Watch out for: clientelle, clientel
Memory tip: See the last three letters as a mirror: e, l, e reads the same both ways.
Clientele in a sentence
Example 1: The bookshop's clientele is mostly students from the nearby colleges.
Example 2: Over the years the hotel has drawn an international clientele.
Example 3: The new menu was designed to appeal to a younger clientele.
Fun Fact
English borrowed the word from French, and French took it from Latin. In ancient Rome it meant the group of followers attached to a powerful noble, long before it meant shoppers.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Cookie
Find the extra letter in the word:
clienntele
a) i
b) n
c) t
d) l
Show answer
b) n. Just one n sits in the middle of the word, as in client.
Mingle-Mangle
Rearrange the jumbled letters in the sentence to form the right word:
The cafe near the railway station has built up a loyal neteellic of early commuters.
a) excellent
b) intellect
c) clientele
d) celestial
Show answer
c) clientele. No x, s or second t appears among the letters, which rules out the other three.
Word Connection
Choose the synonym of the word clientele as used in the sentence:
The tailor on Park Street has served a wealthy clientele for forty years.
a) patrons
b) tenants
c) neighbours
d) assistants
Show answer
a) patrons. The people a tailor serves are those who pay for his work.
Spell-o-Spell
Three of these words are spelt correctly. Choose the meaning of the misspelt word.
1. marchant 2. entrepreneur 3. clientele 4. revenue
a) the customers of a business
b) the income a business receives
c) a person who buys and sells goods in large amounts
d) a person who sets up a new business
Show answer
c) a person who buys and sells goods in large amounts. Merchant has an e after the m.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. A restaurant owner wants to learn about her clientele. Whom will she study?
a) the staff in her kitchen
b) the owners of nearby cafes
c) the farmers who supply her
d) the people who eat there
Show answer
d) the people who eat there
2. What would a shop do if it wished to change its clientele?
a) sell goods for a different kind of buyer
b) change the date of its yearly audit
c) repaint the ceiling of the office
d) move its storeroom to the back
Show answer
a) sell goods for a different kind of buyer
