Connivance
//kəˈnaɪvəns// noun
noun ·Uncommon ·College level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 The process of conniving or conspiring. countable, uncountable
"The Abbot’s house, which formed the third side of the square, was, though injured, still inhabited, and afforded refuge to the few brethren who yet, rather by connivance than by actual authority, were permitted to remain at Kennaquhair."
- 2 (law) tacit approval of someone's wrongdoing wordnet
- 3 agreement on a secret plot wordnet
Example
More examples"The Abbot’s house, which formed the third side of the square, was, though injured, still inhabited, and afforded refuge to the few brethren who yet, rather by connivance than by actual authority, were permitted to remain at Kennaquhair."
Etymology
From early 18th c., replaced earlier form connivence (late 16th c.), from Latin connīventia, from connīvēns (“winking”).
More for "connivance"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.