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
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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
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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.—
Brian Welk,
IndieWire,
14 Apr. 2026 -
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.—
Fran Ruiz,
Space.com,
17 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Shakespeare’s comedies especially understand the joy of watching people get trapped in schemes and plots well beyond their control.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
2 June 2026
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Goldman here plots the earnings-revisions trend for 2027 among AI-infrastructure plays, energy companies, the overall S & P 500 and the rest of the S & P outside of AI and energy.—
Michael Santoli,
CNBC,
19 May 2026
Verb
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Yet the assumption that more demand automatically equals grid failure ignores how energy systems respond to new demand.—
Anna Broughel,
Forbes.com,
31 May 2026
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All Saints allows and ignores a culture of bullying, the lawsuit alleges.—
Emerson Clarridge,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
29 May 2026
Verb
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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.—
Randall Colburn,
Entertainment Weekly,
9 Mar. 2026
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Joy Randolph, follows a desperate gallery owner (Portman) who schemes to sell a dead man as art at Art Basel in Miami.—
Erin Clack,
PEOPLE,
26 Jan. 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Connives.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/connives. Accessed 7 Jun. 2026.
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