complicity

noun

com·​plic·​i·​ty kəm-ˈpli-s(ə-)tē 

plural complicities

1

: association or participation in or as if in a wrongful act

There's no proof of his complicity in the crime.

2

: an instance of complicity

The two share a complicity she calls fraternal.

—Joan Dupont

Synonyms of complicity

• conspiracy
• collusion
• connivance

Examples of complicity in a Sentence

There's no proof of her complicity in the murder.

He acted with his brother's complicity.

Recent Examples on the Web

Their selective invocations of Washington may have obscured his complicity, but some abolitionists truly believed doing so would help bring the horror of American slavery to an end. — John Garrison Marks, The Atlantic, 25 July 2026

Von Carolsfeld doesn’t attempt a sweeping indictment of the criminal justice system, but rather produces a devastatingly accurate portrait of the searing human complicity that allows some monsters to roam free. — Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 22 July 2026

But when the spirit takes over Nikki, the true source of ambiguity in the story becomes Bear’s complicity in Nikki’s loss of autonomy. — Tania Azhang, Sacbee.com, 16 July 2026

The connection between the shattered bodies and buildings and their own governments’ complicity is now unmistakably clear. — Literary Hub, 14 July 2026

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from French complicité, borrowed from New Latin complicitāt-, complicitās, formed from Late Latin complic-, complex "fellow-participant, partner, accomplice" and Latin -itāt-, -itās -ity, probably after Late Latin duplicitās duplicity — more at complice

Note: The formation of the word is peculiar in that Latin -itāt-, -itās, along with its descendants and borrowings, is rarely added to nouns. Outside of the dictionaries of Thomas Blount and Elisha Coles, complicity is rare to non-existent in English text before the later eighteenth century, when its adoption was probably stimulated by French complicité.

First Known Use

circa 1656, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for complicity

• basicity
• chronicity
• cyclicity
• duplicity
• ethnicity
• facticity
• felicity
• helicity
• plasticity
• publicity
• rusticity
• simplicity

Kids Definition

complicity

noun

com·​plic·​i·​ty kəm-ˈplis-ət-ē 

plural complicities

: association or participation in a wrongful act