connive

verb

con·​nive kə-ˈnīv 

connived; conniving

intransitive verb

1

: to pretend ignorance of or fail to take action against something one ought to oppose

The government connived in the rebels' military buildup.

2

a

: to be indulgent or in secret sympathy : wink

The captain connived at the smuggling of goods aboard his ship.

b

: to cooperate secretly or have a secret understanding

officials who connive with drug dealers

3

: conspire, intrigue

accused his opponents of conniving to defeat the proposal

conniver noun

Did you know?

Connive may not seem like a term that would raise many hackles, but it certainly raised those of Wilson Follett, a usage critic who lamented that the word "was undone during the Second World War, when restless spirits felt the need of a new synonym for plotting, bribing, spying, conspiring, engineering a coup, preparing a secret attack." Follett thought connive should only mean "to wink at" or "to pretend ignorance." Those senses are closer to the Latin ancestor of the word: connive comes from the Latin verb connivēre, which means "to close the eyes" and which is descended from -nivēre, a form akin to the Latin verb nictare, meaning "to wink." But many English speakers disagreed, and the "conspire" sense is now the word's most widely used meaning.

Synonyms

• wink

Examples of connive in a Sentence

the principal connived at all the school absences that were recorded on the day of the city's celebration of its Super Bowl victory

suspects that his coworkers are conniving to get him fired

Recent Examples on the Web

Scott, at his most creepy and conniving, plays Tom Ripley, a low-rent con artist in New York in the 1960s who gets the opportunity of a lifetime when a rich shipping magnate employs him to convince the man's wayward heir to come home and stop gallivanting across Italy. —Kelly Lawler, USA TODAY, 4 Apr. 2024

Rebecca Grossman ‘naive,’ not conniving, with jailhouse calls; judge won’t reprimand her. —Andrew J. Campa, Los Angeles Times, 24 Mar. 2024

Kaia Gerber Has Sweet Support from Mom Cindy, Dad Rande and Brother Presley at Palm Royale Premiere Maxine falls somewhere between Vanity Fair’s conniving Becky Sharp and Scout, the innocent little narrator of To Kill a Mockingbird. —Tom Gliatto, Peoplemag, 20 Mar. 2024

There are resentful relatives, penurious relatives, conniving relatives, no relatives, and loved ones denied input because they are not related. —Dan Barry, New York Times, 7 Mar. 2024

Eugene Levy played the conniving Dr. Walter Kornbluth, while Candy played Freddie, Allen’s boisterous and womanizing brother. —Jack Smart, Peoplemag, 15 Mar. 2024

Julianne Moore is a countess conniving her way to the top! —Kirsty Hatcher, Peoplemag, 1 Feb. 2024

But when Regina takes an interest in Cady — albeit a possibly conniving one — and invites her to join them for lunch, Janis and Damian see it as an opportunity to get some dirt on the mean girls. —David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 10 Jan. 2024

The rich and conniving Jewish bankers controlling money, politicians, and the media became the rich and conniving Zionists. —Daniel Foster, National Review, 30 Nov. 2023

Word History

Etymology

French or Latin; French conniver, from Latin conivēre, connivēre to close the eyes, connive, from com- + -nivēre (akin to nictare to wink); akin to Old English & Old High German hnīgan to bow

First Known Use

1601, in the meaning defined at sense 1

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Kids Definition

connive

verb

con·​nive kə-ˈnīv 

connived; conniving

: to cooperate secretly or have a secret understanding

conniver noun

Legal Definition

connive

transitive verb

con·​nive kə-ˈnīv 

connived; conniving

: to assent knowingly and wrongfully without opposition to another's wrongdoing

specifically : to knowingly consent to a spouse's marital misconduct and especially to adultery

Etymology

Latin con(n)ivere to close one's eyes, knowingly overlook something