1
as in winks
to secretly sympathize with or pretend ignorance of something improper or unlawful
the principal connived at all the school absences that were recorded on the day of the city's celebration of its Super Bowl victory
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in plots
to engage in a secret plan to accomplish evil or unlawful ends
suspects that his coworkers are conniving to get him fired
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for connives
Verb
-
The film, from director Susanne Bier, opens September 11, and the first teaser showed the old house that was rebuilt meticulously, as well as the two Owens sisters getting up to a whole lot of witchy stuff and some sly winks.
-
Badlands might be a simple movie on the surface, but it's filled with little details, bits of lore, and cheeky winks many moviegoers appreciated.
Verb
-
While Burnham plots his next move, the UK government now enters a new period of uncertainty, potentially facing a sixth prime minister in seven years.
-
An engineer plots a well’s falling output, fits a curve, and projects it forward.
Verb
-
Furthermore, the new deal ignores Lebanon’s efforts to free itself from Iran’s influence in the country through its Hezbollah ally.
-
Rambling usually ignores it when Dean Cain posts one of his tirades against liberal Hollywood.
Verb
-
Marty, who was loosely based on real-life ping-pong legend Marty Reisman, schemes his way to competitions across the globe and hustles for pocket cash.
-
Joy Randolph, follows a desperate gallery owner (Portman) who schemes to sell a dead man as art at Art Basel in Miami.
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Cite this Entry
“Connives.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/connives. Accessed 26 Jun. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
