complicity

noun

com·​plic·​i·​ty kəm-ˈpli-s(ə-)tē 

plural complicities

1

: association or participation in or as if in a wrongful act

arrested for complicity in the crime

2

: an instance of complicity

The two share a complicity she calls fraternal.

—Joan Dupont

Synonyms

• collusion
• connivance
• conspiracy

Examples of complicity in a Sentence

There's no proof of her complicity in the murder.

He acted with his brother's complicity.

Recent Examples on the Web

The trial of 54 defendants took testimony about 789 individual crimes from around 900 witnesses and presented new details about the death flights, including the complicity of church officials, who sometimes blessed the pilots before their flights. —Joshua Hammer, Smithsonian Magazine, 12 Dec. 2024

An international arrest warrant was issued against Assad last year after France's top court accused him of complicity in war crimes during the civil war. —Juliana Kim, NPR, 8 Dec. 2024

More:Lawsuit: Man newly freed from prison sought help 48 hours before killing cellmate at jail Court records show Tucker was indicted in 2018 on counts of complicity to commit arson and insurance fraud, but was ultimately acquitted of those charges at trial. —Quinlan Bentley, The Enquirer, 29 Nov. 2024

The ruling – and the fact that the crimes in the warrant are potentially ongoing – raises the risk of complicity for countries that supply weapons to Israel and could pave the way for sanctions against Israel. —Dominique Soguel, The Christian Science Monitor, 26 Nov. 2024

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from French complicité, borrowed from New Latin complicitāt-, complicitās, formed from Late Latin complic-, complex "fellow-participant, partner, accomplice" and Latin -itāt-, -itās -ity, probably after Late Latin duplicitās duplicity — more at complice

Note: The formation of the word is peculiar in that Latin -itāt-, -itās, along with its descendants and borrowings, is rarely added to nouns. Outside of the dictionaries of Thomas Blount and Elisha Coles, complicity is rare to non-existent in English text before the later eighteenth century, when its adoption was probably stimulated by French complicité.

First Known Use

circa 1656, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

complicity

noun

com·​plic·​i·​ty kəm-ˈplis-ət-ē 

plural complicities

: association or participation in a wrongful act