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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This line plots the current price back 26 periods in time.—
Karl Montevirgen,
Encyclopedia Britannica,
2 Apr. 2026
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Alexandre Dumas’s novel of identity and revenge gets a big-budget remake with Sam Claflin starring as Edmond Dantès, a sailor wrongly imprisoned in an island fortress who, after his escape and subsequent treasure finding, plots his vengeance.—
Savannah Salazar,
Vulture,
20 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Most critically, the report measures income and largely ignores wealth, debt, and geographic reality.—
Nick Lichtenberg,
Fortune,
12 Apr. 2026
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Any claim that the District has remained unresponsive or uncooperative is patently false and ignores months of direct consultation.—
Megan De Mar,
CBS News,
10 Apr. 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 20 Apr. 2026.
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