1
as in winking
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 plotting
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
as in connivance
Related Words
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
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Recent Examples of conniving
Eric Andersson, PEOPLE, 8 Oct. 2025
Through Laura’s protective eyes, this striver who has gotten her claws into Daniel is conniving, hypersexual, possibly a thief, definitely a liar.
—Judy Berman, Time, 10 Sep. 2025
Somehow, the upper hand never lingers long with Sally and Barnaby, drolly played by Gunning and Corden as a conniving Tweedledee and Tweedledum, loyal to no one and convinced their venality is justified by their father’s history of terrible parenting.
—David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 9 Sep. 2025
Each episode was guaranteed to feature a conniving scheme, a shocking betrayal, and some steamy-for-its-time smooching.
—Jordan Hoffman, Entertainment Weekly, 7 Sep. 2025
This conniving force of darkness is pretty simple at a basic level.
—Vivian Tu, CNBC, 29 Aug. 2025
Feeling profoundly betrayed and abandoned by David, Rebecca’s loyalty lies with the vicious and conniving Juno, the only family she’s known for the last decade.
—Aramide Tinubu, Variety, 13 Aug. 2025
Noun
Was there people conniving and being evil?
—Eric Andersson, PEOPLE, 8 Oct. 2025
Through Laura’s protective eyes, this striver who has gotten her claws into Daniel is conniving, hypersexual, possibly a thief, definitely a liar.
—Judy Berman, Time, 10 Sep. 2025
Somehow, the upper hand never lingers long with Sally and Barnaby, drolly played by Gunning and Corden as a conniving Tweedledee and Tweedledum, loyal to no one and convinced their venality is justified by their father’s history of terrible parenting.
—David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 9 Sep. 2025
Each episode was guaranteed to feature a conniving scheme, a shocking betrayal, and some steamy-for-its-time smooching.
—Jordan Hoffman, Entertainment Weekly, 7 Sep. 2025
This conniving force of darkness is pretty simple at a basic level.
—Vivian Tu, CNBC, 29 Aug. 2025
Feeling profoundly betrayed and abandoned by David, Rebecca’s loyalty lies with the vicious and conniving Juno, the only family she’s known for the last decade.
—Aramide Tinubu, Variety, 13 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for conniving
Verb
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James later shared the ad on social media with winking and tongue-sticking-out emojis; much of his audience, however, was not so amused, and one lifelong fan even sued.—
Robert Abitbol,
USA Today,
11 Oct. 2025
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In doing so, Piccioli subtly weaves in his own creative quirks, while winking (from behind dark glasses) at his predecessor — a way of not entirely unsettling the clientele won over during the previous decade.—
Joelle Diderich,
Footwear News,
8 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
Soon, Crusifino left The D'Angelo Family after being accused of plotting against the stable.—
Fernando Quiles Jr,
MSNBC Newsweek,
3 Oct. 2025
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Just two years after Riverdale came to its dramatic conclusion, Archie Andrews is plotting his return to television screens once again — and, this time around, things are about to get a whole lot spookier.—
Emlyn Travis,
Entertainment Weekly,
2 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
Or secretly despise his own connivance?—
Anthony Lane,
New Yorker,
18 Sep. 2025
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In addition, senior executives could be held personally liable when offences involve their consent, connivance or neglect.—
Jamie Hailstone,
Forbes.com,
29 May 2025
Verb
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Prizegivers have also in the past been accused of being snobbish, of having an anti-American bias and of ignoring some of the giants of literature, including Russia's Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy, France's Emile Zola and Ireland's James Joyce.—
Simon Johnson,
USA Today,
9 Oct. 2025
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Thom Harris found that some players are negating the tactic by simply ignoring it.—
Phil Hay,
New York Times,
8 Oct. 2025
Verb
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In London, Angelica used her private connections to elevate her husband’s public power, scheming to ensure Church’s election to Parliament in 1790.—
Jane Kamensky,
The Atlantic,
10 Oct. 2025
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Ocean's Eleven hit theaters in 2001, starring Clooney, Pitt, Damon, Bernie Mac, and more as a crew of criminals scheming to rob three Las Vegas casinos.—
Mekishana Pierre,
Entertainment Weekly,
8 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Droney found there was no collusion, saying league officials presenting economic information to owners is not indicative of collusion.—
Michael McCann,
Sportico.com,
2 Sep. 2025
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In the United Kingdom, regulators warned that AI systems used in energy markets could unintentionally enable tacit collusion between suppliers.—
Gopinath Kathiresan,
Forbes.com,
29 Aug. 2025
Noun
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The writer became inspired to counteract his complicity in a corrupt system.—
David Fear,
Rolling Stone,
2 Oct. 2025
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Cultural norms around the practice and the complicity of local officials also hinder progress, according to the Centre for Reproductive Rights.—
Carlotta Dotto,
CNN Money,
29 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Fast-forward to the end of the first half, and the Lions’ decision (and what would have been Kansas City’s usual strategy) paid off for the home team.—
Kansas City Star,
Kansas City Star,
13 Oct. 2025
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For buyers, extra money dries up GM’s strategy of crafting electrified options for its most popular models like the Chevrolet Blazer, Equinox and Silverado directly addressed what consumers wanted from the automaker’s emerging offerings, said Joseph Yoon, Edmunds' consumer insights analyst.—
Jackie Charniga,
USA Today,
13 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Conniving.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/conniving. Accessed 15 Oct. 2025.
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