conspire
verb
con·spire
kən-ˈspī(-ə)r 
conspired; conspiring
1
a
: to join in a secret agreement to do an unlawful or wrongful act or an act which becomes unlawful as a result of the secret agreement
accused of conspiring to overthrow the government
conspired to monopolize and restrict trade
b
: scheme
2
: to act in harmony toward a common end
Circumstances conspired to defeat his efforts.
… the sun and the wind conspired to make splinters out of solid wood.—
B. J. Oliphant
B. J. OliphantSynonyms
Examples of conspire in a Sentence
conspired to replace the leader with someone more easily influenced
foul weather and airline foul-ups seemed to be conspiring to ruin our vacation
Recent Examples on the Web
Wanting to escape the control her mother had over her, Blanchard conspired with her then-boyfriend Nicholas Godejohn to murder Dee Dee and then escape to Wisconsin together.
—Larisha Paul, Rolling Stone, 29 Mar. 2024
Baseball itself was nearly ruined a little over a century ago because of the Black Sox scandal involving eight Chicago White Sox players who were accused of conspiring with gamblers to lose the World Series on purpose.
—Harry Enten, CNN, 29 Mar. 2024
Thirty-one of them were arrested on suspicion of conspiring a riot, according to The Spokesman Review of Spokane.
—Char Adams, NBC News, 27 Mar. 2024
Amiri, a former Antioch K9 cop, is charged in a separate indictment with conspiring with two colleagues to attack civilians, including with dog bites and use of a gun that fires less-lethal projectiles.
—Nate Gartrell, The Mercury News, 26 Mar. 2024
But of course, Redfin is facing its own lawsuits—including, a very recent one filed last month in California, that claims NAR, the California Association of Realtors, and Redfin, conspired to inflate commissions.
—Alena Botros, Fortune, 22 Mar. 2024
Last week, the NAR agreed to pay $418 million and make policy changes in order to resolve multiple lawsuits, including one where in late October a jury in Missouri found the trade group and several real estate brokerages conspired to require that home sellers pay homebuyers’ agent commissions.
—Alex Veiga, Quartz, 22 Mar. 2024
The resulting cycles of exposure to the greater world of skin care — not only the dermatologists who study it, but the brands that control it, and the people who crave it — have conspired to make Dr. Day a physician of some renown.
—Brennan Kilbane, Allure, 21 Mar. 2024
In the months since, superseding indictments alleged Menendez and his wife conspired to act as a foreign agent for Egypt and accepted expensive gifts in exchange for favorable comments about Qatar.
—Caitlin Yilek, CBS News, 21 Mar. 2024
Larisha Paul, Rolling Stone, 29 Mar. 2024
Baseball itself was nearly ruined a little over a century ago because of the Black Sox scandal involving eight Chicago White Sox players who were accused of conspiring with gamblers to lose the World Series on purpose.
—Harry Enten, CNN, 29 Mar. 2024
Thirty-one of them were arrested on suspicion of conspiring a riot, according to The Spokesman Review of Spokane.
—Char Adams, NBC News, 27 Mar. 2024
Amiri, a former Antioch K9 cop, is charged in a separate indictment with conspiring with two colleagues to attack civilians, including with dog bites and use of a gun that fires less-lethal projectiles.
—Nate Gartrell, The Mercury News, 26 Mar. 2024
But of course, Redfin is facing its own lawsuits—including, a very recent one filed last month in California, that claims NAR, the California Association of Realtors, and Redfin, conspired to inflate commissions.
—Alena Botros, Fortune, 22 Mar. 2024
Last week, the NAR agreed to pay $418 million and make policy changes in order to resolve multiple lawsuits, including one where in late October a jury in Missouri found the trade group and several real estate brokerages conspired to require that home sellers pay homebuyers’ agent commissions.
—Alex Veiga, Quartz, 22 Mar. 2024
The resulting cycles of exposure to the greater world of skin care — not only the dermatologists who study it, but the brands that control it, and the people who crave it — have conspired to make Dr. Day a physician of some renown.
—Brennan Kilbane, Allure, 21 Mar. 2024
In the months since, superseding indictments alleged Menendez and his wife conspired to act as a foreign agent for Egypt and accepted expensive gifts in exchange for favorable comments about Qatar.
—Caitlin Yilek, CBS News, 21 Mar. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'conspire.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near conspire
Cite this Entry
“Conspire.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/conspire. Accessed 16 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
conspire
verb
con·spire
kən-ˈspī(ə)r
conspired; conspiring
1
: to agree secretly to do an unlawful act : plot
conspiring to overthrow the dictator
2
: to act together
measles and the weather conspired to spoil our vacation
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