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

As the family patriarch tearfully recalls the night his boy came into the world, his conniving better half comforts him, tightly holding his hand. —Matt Cabral, EW.com, 18 May 2025

Peacock’s The Traitors connived its way to a leading six nominations for the seventh annual Critics Choice Real TV Awards, which were revealed this morning. —Erik Pedersen, Deadline, 1 May 2025

This is the new second national tour of the musical based on the 1993 movie starring Robin Williams, a divorced father who connives to see his children by posing as their Scottish nanny. —Christopher Arnott, Hartford Courant, 22 Apr. 2025

Dead Ringers studies identical twins at their most conniving, manipulative, fetishistic, and twisted. —Barry Levitt, Vulture, 18 Apr. 2025

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

Rhymes for connive

• alive
• archive
• arrive
• beehive
• contrive
• deprive
• derive
• revive
• survive
• dive
• drive
• five

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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