as in conspiracy
a secret agreement or cooperation between two parties for an illegal or dishonest purpose
the two major auction houses acting in complicity to drive up the prices of art works
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of complicity
Yet for those who have watched the events of recent years with grief and fury, cheering on a team that represents the Islamic Republic feels, to some, like an act of complicity.
—
Shirvin Zeinalzadeh,
The Conversation,
11 June 2026
Fictions may be sublimations, places to hide outrage or grief or guilt, or to talk about complicity, which by its nature cannot be spoken of.
—
Literary Hub,
10 June 2026
In 2025, two Centennial nursing home staffers were arrested and charged with criminal negligence, complicity, and abusing an at-risk adult after allegedly covering up details about how a 92-year-old woman with dementia in their care suffered a broken leg.
—
Sponsored Content,
Denver Post,
9 June 2026
Eli was found guilty of complicity to commit murder and was sentenced to 15 years to life.
—
Caroline Blair,
PEOPLE,
7 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for complicity
Shirvin Zeinalzadeh,
The Conversation,
11 June 2026
Fictions may be sublimations, places to hide outrage or grief or guilt, or to talk about complicity, which by its nature cannot be spoken of.
—
Literary Hub,
10 June 2026
In 2025, two Centennial nursing home staffers were arrested and charged with criminal negligence, complicity, and abusing an at-risk adult after allegedly covering up details about how a 92-year-old woman with dementia in their care suffered a broken leg.
—
Sponsored Content,
Denver Post,
9 June 2026
Eli was found guilty of complicity to commit murder and was sentenced to 15 years to life.
—
Caroline Blair,
PEOPLE,
7 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for complicity
Recent Examples of Synonyms for complicity
Noun
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Because everyone will have access to the same information, AI will accentuate the value of personal connections, again promoting lineages and networks that at their most extreme may appear to be sinister establishment conspiracies.
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Previous cloud-seeding controversies Cloud seeding is now at the center of the rise in weather‑control conspiracy narratives after disasters, such as the tragic Texas floods of 2025 that killed dozens of people, many of them children.
Noun
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The lawsuit accuses Kalibrate of facilitating cartel-like collusion.
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No one who has observed the Islamic Republic’s treatment of dissent over the past four decades will find the language about foreign collusion surprising.
Noun
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Individuals and groups have often accused the U.S. government of denying their rights, and some of those accusations were irrefutable—as in the century between Appomattox and Selma, when the rights of Black Americans were denied throughout the South with the connivance of Washington.
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But widespread disgust with the mayor’s mendacity and the connivance of eight City Council members is changing the political landscape.
Cite this Entry
“Complicity.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/complicity. Accessed 29 Jun. 2026.
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