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

Eli pled guilty to complicity to commit murder and was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison. —Alex Gurley, PEOPLE, 12 Nov. 2025

Allegations of state complicity were so severe that for years Modi was barred from entering the US. —Rhea Mogul, CNN Money, 7 Nov. 2025

Lowri Morgan, a working-class doctor, begins to question her complicity in this utopic world. —Georg Szalai, HollywoodReporter, 4 Nov. 2025

The two suspects have children together, Beccuau said, and the woman was charged with complicity in organized theft. —Karissa Waddick, USA Today, 2 Nov. 2025

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