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

Real Housewife star Garcelle Beauvais plays Diana Gordon, a buttoned up, conniving, overconfident who has secrets of her own. —Carla Renata, Variety, 13 June 2024

Prosecutors depicted Sheppard as a conniving developer who cheated the system to line his pockets, while his defense team portrayed him as a businessman who needed the government’s help to pay his employees during a public health crisis. —Jay Weaver, Miami Herald, 4 June 2024

McCarthy vamps it up as the conniving Ursula, going big but not too big — the one special effect that escapes the rest of the film’s soulless spectacle. —Tim Grierson, Vulture, 4 May 2024

Even their conniving delivery driver, Eve, can't figure out the recipe. —Kelsey Houston-Edwards, Scientific American, 1 Feb. 2024

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