conspire

verb

con·​spire kən-ˈspī(-ə)r 

conspired; conspiring

transitive verb

: plot, contrive

intransitive verb

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

Synonyms of conspire

• plot
• scheme

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

Cedric and Denise Lodge and two others — Katrina MacLean and Joshua Taylor — allegedly conspired with Jeremy Pauley to sell human remains for a profit, according to court documents. — CBS News, 19 Aug. 2026

After all, OpenAI allowed its AI models to secretly conspire with one another and then escape into the real world, conducting real-world hacking. — Reed Albergotti, semafor.com, 19 Aug. 2026

The illicit activity came to light in 2023, when the former Harvard Medical School morgue manager was indicted for conspiring to steal body parts from cadavers donated to the Boston institution and sell them on the black market. — Meredith Deliso, ABC News, 19 Aug. 2026

Other maturities also have risen, owing to a number of factors conspiring to raise financing costs. — Sean Conlon,justina Lee,sarah Min, CNBC, 18 Aug. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Anglo-French conspirer, from Latin conspirare to be in harmony, conspire, from com- + spirare to breathe

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense

Rhymes for conspire

• briar
• brier
• buyer
• choir
• crier
• cryer
• drier
• dryer
• eyer
• flier
• flyer
• friar

Kids 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

delays and the weather conspired to spoil our vacation

Legal Definition

conspire

intransitive verb

con·​spire kən-ˈspīr 

conspired; conspiring

: to join in a conspiracy compare solicit

Etymology

Latin conspirare to be in harmony, to join in an unlawful agreement, from com- together + spirare to breathe