accomplice

noun

ac·​com·​plice ə-ˈkäm-pləs  -ˈkəm- 

: one associated with another especially in wrongdoing

was convicted as an accomplice to murder

Synonyms of accomplice

• henchman
• cohort
• partner
• accessory
• abettor
• informant
• informer
• companion

Examples of accomplice in a Sentence

He was convicted as an accomplice to murder.

the thief and his accomplices were eventually caught and brought to justice

Recent Examples on the Web

The Youngs and their accomplices are also accused of offering drugs to patients and cutting them off from communication with family members. — Richard Winton, Los Angeles Times, 27 Oct. 2026

The tryst was consummated at a motel called the Red Bull Motor Inn, where Kushner’s accomplices had installed a video camera inside a digital alarm clock. — Lauren Collins, New Yorker, 26 Oct. 2026

Broadly, cargo thieves are infiltrating email accounts to find lucrative shipments, misdirecting shipments, disrupting GPS tracking, and using AI to create fake driver’s licenses to get accomplices hired as delivery drivers. — Ashley Belanger, ArsTechnica, 26 Oct. 2026

Since the beginning of the episode, Lee’s been tailed by McMann’s skinny accomplice — the guy Ginger shot in the neck at the end of the season premiere. — Amanda Whiting, Vulture, 22 Oct. 2026

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Anglo-French acomplice, alteration of complice "associate" — more at complice

Note: The source of initial a(c)- is unclear. The earlier notion that a- represents fusion of the indefinite article cannot be maintained given the much earlier occurrences of the word in Anglo-French (in a 1384 petition of the Drapers guild, and in vol. 2 of the Rotuli Parliamentorum [1279-1377]). The suggestion that complice has been assimilated to accomplir, "to fulfill, etc.," (see accomplish) is not very compelling semantically.

First Known Use

1584, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

accomplice

noun

ac·​com·​plice ə-ˈkäm-pləs  -ˈkəm- 

: someone associated with another in wrongdoing

Legal Definition

accomplice

noun

ac·​com·​plice ə-ˈkäm-pləs, -ˈkəm- 

: one who intentionally and voluntarily participates with another in a crime by encouraging or assisting in the commission of the crime or by failing to prevent it though under a duty to do so

the accomplice of the burglar

an accomplice in a robbery

Etymology

alteration (from incorrect division of a complice) of complice, from Middle French, associate, from Late Latin complic- complex partner, confederate