connive

verb

con·nive kə-ˈnīv

connived; conniving

Synonyms of connive next

intransitive verb

: to pretend ignorance of or fail to take action against something one ought to oppose

The government connived in the rebels' military buildup.

: to be indulgent or in secret sympathy : wink

The captain connived at the smuggling of goods aboard his ship.

: to cooperate secretly or have a secret understanding

officials who connive with drug dealers

: conspire, intrigue

accused his opponents of conniving to defeat the proposal

conniver noun

Did you know?

Connive may not seem like a troublesome term, but it was to Wilson Follett, a usage critic who lamented that the word "was undone during the Second World War, when restless spirits felt the need of a new synonym for plotting, bribing, spying, conspiring, engineering a coup, preparing a secret attack." Follett thought connive should only mean "to wink at" or "to pretend ignorance." Those senses are closer to the Latin ancestor of the word: connive comes from the Latin connivēre, which means "to close the eyes" and which is descended from -nivēre, a form akin to the Latin verb nictare, meaning "to wink." But many English speakers disagreed, and the "conspire" sense is now the word's most widely used meaning.

Example Sentences

the principal connived at all the school absences that were recorded on the day of the city's celebration of its Super Bowl victory suspects that his coworkers are conniving to get him fired

Recent Examples on the Web In celebration of her return, everyone from comedian Melissa McCarthy, who’s playing the conniving nemesis of King Triton, to film historians, are taking the opportunity to pay tribute to the legendary drag queen who inspired Ursula’s unwholesome ways: Divine. —

Elaina Patton, NBC News, 26 May 2023 Polly Walker as Lady Featherington Polly Walker plays Lady Featherington, the Bridgertons' gaudy and conniving neighbor. —

Charlotte Walsh, Peoplemag, 3 May 2023 Melissa McCarthy's conniving sea witch Ursula makes a deal with Ariel in new footage from the upcoming The Little Mermaid live-action remake. —

Jessica Wang, EW.com, 13 Apr. 2023 Based on a popular telenovela, the movie follows twin sisters (both played by Isabella Castillo) separated at birth, one humble and kind, the other ultrarich, conniving and destructive. —

Dallasnews.com Staff, Dallas News, 6 Apr. 2023 That’s just not so: Some people are better than other people, as far as virtue goes, and some are just conniving, self-interested [expletive]. —

Andrew Marzoni, New York Times, 4 Apr. 2023 The real world, happily, is not as violent as Game of Thrones, not as conniving as Game of Thrones, but there are certainly some sinister characters in the real world as well. —

Keli Goff, The Hollywood Reporter, 31 Mar. 2023 Here, Prospero and his daughter, Miranda, have made their home for 12 years, ever since Prospero’s conniving brother, Antonio, conspired to steal his dukedom. —

Charles Mcnulty, Los Angeles Times, 28 Mar. 2023 Foremost among the opera’s ironies is Agrippina herself (Joyce DiDonato), domineering and conniving throughout the span of this opera, but in real life destined, in the years that would follow, to be hoist by her own petard. —

James Romm, The New York Review of Books, 1 Mar. 2020 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'connive.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

French or Latin; French conniver, from Latin conivēre, connivēre to close the eyes, connive, from com- + -nivēre (akin to nictare to wink); akin to Old English & Old High German hnīgan to bow

First Known Use

1601, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler

The first known use of connive was in 1601

See more words from the same year