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

At least one other person was also reportedly taken into custody and charged with complicity. —Julia Bonavita, FOXNews.com, 30 Mar. 2026

Investigators are examining suspicions of bribery involving a foreign public official and complicity which concerns former French diplomat Fabrice Aidan. —ABC News, 24 Mar. 2026

Grossman succeeds in interrogating the very gaze his film is built upon, yet never fully escapes it, leaving the documentary caught between critique and complicity. —Murtada Elfadl, Variety, 18 Mar. 2026

Joe Biden’s efforts to be the most pro-labor president in history didn’t spare him the wrath of young Starbucks employees who accused him of complicity in genocide. —George Packer, The Atlantic, 16 Mar. 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