conniveverb [ I ]
uk/kəˈnaɪv/us/kəˈnaɪv/to plan secretly and dishonestly for something to happen that will be to your advantage:
Officials were accused of conniving with the company in the supply of arms to Sierra Leone.
[ + to infinitive ] They connived to break the school rules at every opportunity.
to allow something bad to happen although you know about it:
She had murdered or connived at the murder of one of her lovers.
He called for an independent investigation to find out whether corrupt officials are being bribed to connive in shoddy construction.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Plotting & trapping
- be in league with sb idiom
- cahoots
- catch sb out
- chicanery
- cloak-and-dagger
- conspire
- entrap
- entrapment
- hatch
- have a card up your sleeve idiom
- honey trap
- plot
- plotter
- put-up job
- scheme
- set-up
- snare
- sting
- stratagem
- trap
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You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:
Allowing and permitting