What does "connive" mean?
To secretly cooperate with other people in order to commit a crime or other wrongdoing; to collude, to conspire.
Connive
/kəˈnaɪv/ verb
verb ·Moderate ·College level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: To secretly cooperate with other people in order to commit a crime or other wrongdoing; to collude, to conspire.
- Grammar: connive is listed as verb.
- Nearest alternatives: accord, acquiesce, agree, angle.
- Useful contrasts: honesty, intervene, oppose.
- Usage evidence: The group had to scrimp, connive, and hustle in order to get by.
How to use "connive"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "connive" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "connive" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "connive" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "connive" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "connive" is acting as verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "accord" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "connive", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Verb
- 1 To secretly cooperate with other people in order to commit a crime or other wrongdoing; to collude, to conspire. intransitive
"I might say, / That who despairs, acts; that who acts, connives / With God's relations set in time and space; [...]"
- 2 form intrigues (for) in an underhand manner wordnet
- 3 Of parts of a plant: to be converging or in close contact; to be connivent. intransitive, rare
"This species [...] differs from other species of this genus in the upper pinnæ being contracted, which are sinuously lobed, each lacinæ and lobe bearing a sorus, furnished with a nearly orbicular indusium, the free exterior margin of which connives with the margin of the lobe, [...]"
- 4 encourage or assent to illegally or criminally wordnet
- 5 Often followed by at: to pretend to be ignorant of something in order to escape blame; to ignore or overlook a fault deliberately. intransitive, obsolete
"For ſince the affairs of the world have in them the varieties and perplexities beſides, it happens that in ſome caſes men know not how to govern by the ſtricteſt meaſures of religion, becauſe all men will not do their duty upon that account; and therefore laws are not made [...] with exact and pureſt meaſures, but in compliance and by neceſſity, not always as well as they ſhould, but as well as they may: and therefore the Civil power is forc'd ſometimes to connive at what it does not approve."
Show 1 more definition
- 6 To open and close the eyes rapidly; to wink. intransitive, obsolete
"The artist is to teach them how to nod judiciously, and to connive with either eye, and, in a word, the whole practice of political grimace."
Example
"The group had to scrimp, connive, and hustle in order to get by."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "connive"?
Common synonyms include: accord, acquiesce, agree, angle, associate, be in cahoots.
How do you use "connive" in a sentence?
The group had to scrimp, connive, and hustle in order to get by.
How do you pronounce "connive"?
Pronounced /kəˈnaɪv/.
Etymology
From French conniver (“to ignore and thus become complicit in wrongdoing”), or directly from its etymon Latin con(n)īvēre (“close or screw up the eyes, blink, wink; overlook, turn a blind eye, connive”) (perhaps alluding to two persons involved in a scheme together winking to each other), from con- (prefix indicating a being or bringing together of several objects) + *nīvēre (related to nictō (“to blink, wink”), from Proto-Indo-European *kneygʷʰ- (“to bend, droop”)).