complicity

play

noun com·plic·i·ty \kəm-ˈpli-s(ə-)tē\

Definition of complicity

plural

complicities

1 : association or participation in or as if in a wrongful act arrested for complicity in the crime
2 : an instance of complicity The two share a complicity she calls fraternal. — Joan Dupont

See complicity defined for English-language learners

See complicity defined for kids

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 of complicity from the Web

The prosecutor will determine whether the second suspect should be charged with complicity to theft.

— cheryl higley, cleveland.com, "Police recover stolen car, teens arrested: Avon Lake police", 3 June 2017
That man, Oskar Gröning, 96, was sentenced in July 2015 to four years in prison for complicity in the murder of 300,000 prisoners.

— alison smale, New York Times, "Reinhold Hanning, Former Auschwitz Guard Convicted a Year Ago, Dies at 95", 1 June 2017
Despite his complicity and corruption, Gurlitt was also a victim—and viewed himself as such.

— jackie mansky, Smithsonian, "Why It’s So Hard to Find the Original Owners of Nazi-Looted Art", 31 May 2017
That normalization of and forced complicity with violence creates a sense of self-doubt and helplessness which does not magically vanish in adulthood.

— rosa inocencio smith, The Atlantic, "Growing Up as a Witness to Violence", 26 May 2017
Popes, cardinals and bishops have apologized numerous times for the church’s complicity in the offenses of priests.

— dan rodricks, baltimoresun.com, "From 'Spotlight' to 'Keepers,' Richard Sipe sees celibate priesthood as problem for the Catholic Church", 25 May 2017
With a judicial success rate in the apprehension and prosecution of journalists’ killers at under two per cent, many see a pattern of official complacency, and, in some cases, of complicity.

— jon lee anderson, The New Yorker, "Mexican Journalists Lose Another Colleague to the Drug War", 20 May 2017
To stop doing business with Rosoboronexport in protest of its complicity in the Syrian slaughter could jeopardize the Obama team’s plans to hand the Afghanistan war to the Afghans in 2014.

— spencer ackerman, WIRED, "Pentagon Denies ‘Deal With the Devil’ (On Russian Helos, at Least)", 13 June 2012

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'complicity'. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.