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

For instance, the way that Tresnjak, wardrobe designer Charlotte DeVaux Shields and set designer Alexander Dodge have conspired to make sneakers into the embodiment of complicity and evil is fairly ingenious. — Chris Willman, Variety, 24 Sep. 2026

In 2024, a judge in Haiti indicted Martine Moïse on charges of complicity and criminal association. — CBS News, 20 Sep. 2026

Thomas Litsey, 60, was charged with tampering with physical evidence (complicity). — Caroline Neal, Louisville Courier Journal, 18 Sep. 2026

Neither the company nor the loan officer have been accused of any complicity in the scam. — Emily Elconin For Cnn, CNN Money, 15 Sep. 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