connives

present tense third-person singular of connive
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

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for connives
Verb
  • When new employee Theint (Nandar Myint Lwin) tells a white lie to cover for her after an unauthorized bathroom break, San Kyi’s face turns positively radiant with gratitude, while Teint merely winks in response.
    Guy Lodge, Variety, 11 July 2026
  • 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
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.
    Clare Sebastian, CNN Money, 19 June 2026
  • An engineer plots a well’s falling output, fits a curve, and projects it forward.
    Dara-Abasi Ita, Forbes.com, 14 June 2026
Verb
  • But that framing ignores a few factors, as was pointed out to Deadline by the leader of one suitor committed to safeguarding the company’s unique, cinephile-forward culture.
    Dade Hayes, Deadline, 14 July 2026
  • Why would someone hand over their best idea to a process that usually ignores it?
    Mark Murphy, Forbes.com, 8 July 2026
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.
    Randall Colburn, Entertainment Weekly, 9 Mar. 2026
  • 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
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.

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“Connives.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/connives. Accessed 16 Jul. 2026.

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