verb
connive
kuh-NIVE/kəˈnaɪv/
To cooperate with wrongdoing, secretly or by tacit consent.
Two card players connive to cheat their opponent by passing an ace.
Etymology
Latin connivere meant to wink, including figuratively winking at a crime. Deliberately overlooking wrongdoing came to mean silently encouraging it, then secretly participating in it.
In context
they connive to resurrect the myth of an african continent as a void that requires re-occupation preferably by violence
More examples
- The manager connives at fraud by ignoring false expense reports.
- They connived with a supplier to inflate the invoices.
- She refuses to connive in her coworkers' dishonest scheme.
Forms
connive · connives · connived · conniving
connivance noun — Secret cooperation with or tolerance of wrongdoing.