1
as in to ignore
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
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2
as in to plot
to engage in a secret plan to accomplish evil or unlawful ends
suspects that his coworkers are conniving to get him fired
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Recent Examples of connive
Through his conniving, Heathcliff comes to own both properties.
—
Natasha O'Neill, Vanity Fair, 13 Feb. 2026
Her excellent work goes unappreciated, except when a conniving colleague, Donovan (Xavier Samuel), takes credit for it.
—Frank Scheck, HollywoodReporter, 26 Jan. 2026
The characters here, though, are nowhere near so smart as those conniving pagans and can only dream of outwitting the sophisticated folk from the mainland, coming there with their talk of cake, and comfy chairs, and their lies.
—Damon Wise, Deadline, 22 Jan. 2026
Daemon is one of the most clever, cunning and conniving characters in House of the Dragon, who always seems to have the upper hand.
—Skyler Trepel, PEOPLE, 19 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for connive
Natasha O'Neill, Vanity Fair, 13 Feb. 2026
Her excellent work goes unappreciated, except when a conniving colleague, Donovan (Xavier Samuel), takes credit for it.
—Frank Scheck, HollywoodReporter, 26 Jan. 2026
The characters here, though, are nowhere near so smart as those conniving pagans and can only dream of outwitting the sophisticated folk from the mainland, coming there with their talk of cake, and comfy chairs, and their lies.
—Damon Wise, Deadline, 22 Jan. 2026
Daemon is one of the most clever, cunning and conniving characters in House of the Dragon, who always seems to have the upper hand.
—Skyler Trepel, PEOPLE, 19 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for connive
Recent Examples of Synonyms for connive
Verb
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This is a youngster in great form and proving hard to ignore.—
Simon Johnson,
New York Times,
1 Apr. 2026
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Some Democrats argue that the cost of ignoring young male voters is higher than the risk of association with Piker.—
Jesus Mesa,
MSNBC Newsweek,
31 Mar. 2026
Verb
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In Minnesota, a man was sentenced to life in prison for plotting the murder of a real estate agent in part by luring her to a bogus showing.—
Tim Stelloh,
NBC news,
29 Mar. 2026
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From there, further modules plan and execute experiments, analyze and plot the data and, finally, write the paper.—
Jacek Krywko,
Scientific American,
27 Mar. 2026
Verb
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The Belgian was a throwback in the most charming sense; a grinning, winking, slaloming magician who could earn the undying trust of even the most collectivist coach.—
The Athletic UK Staff,
New York Times,
25 Mar. 2026
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Its only fault, really, is the winking, ironic tone the narration (spoken by Liev Schreiber) sometimes takes, as if the sport isn’t quite worth the trouble the film is going through.—
Television Critic,
Los Angeles Times,
16 Mar. 2026
Verb
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San Francisco jurors stopped short of finding the Texas billionaire intentionally schemed to defraud investors.—
Staff,
Austin American Statesman,
20 Mar. 2026
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But the show instantly makes a rod for its own back by waiting until Episode 3 to turn its hero into the Count and get all the treasure-hunting, high society-infiltrating, and Machiavellian scheming underway.—
Jon O'Brien,
IndieWire,
19 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Connive.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/connive. Accessed 2 Apr. 2026.
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