Connive meaning

kə-nīv'
To cooperate secretly in an illegal or wrongful action; collude.

The dealers connived with customs officials to bring in narcotics.

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To scheme; plot.
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To feign ignorance of or fail to take measures against a wrong, thus implying tacit encouragement or consent.

The guards were suspected of conniving at the prisoner's escape.

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(archaic) To open and close the eyes rapidly; to wink.
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To connive is to cooperate secretly to do something wrong or illegal or to encourage wrong or illegal behavior.

When you create a secret plan to do something wrong with a friend, this is an example of connive.

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To pretend not to see or look (at something wrong or evil), thus giving tacit consent or cooperation; feign ignorance of another's wrongdoing.
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To cooperate with others secretly in order to commit a crime; to collude.
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To pretend to be ignorant of something in order to escape blame; to ignore a fault deliberately.
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To be a wench.
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Origin of connive

  • Latin cōnīvēre, connīvēre to close the eyes
    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
  • Circa 1600, from French conniver, from Latin connīveō (“wink”), or directly from Latin, from com- (“together”) + base akin to nictō (“I wink”), from Proto-Indo-European *knei-gwh- (“to bend”). See also English nictate (“to wink”), from same Latin base.
    From Wiktionary
  • Sense comes from extension of “to wink” into “to wink (at a crime), to be privy”.
    From Wiktionary

Connive Sentence Examples

  • For the same reason the city found itself compelled at first to connive at their illegal representation on 'Change, and then to violate its own rules by permitting them to act as brokers without previously taking up the freedom.

  • The state, represented by the emperor Phocas, is persuaded to connive at the pope's assumption of spiritual authority; the other churches are intimidated into acquiescence; Lucifer's projects seem fully accomplished, when Heaven raises up Henry VIII.

  • The passages of the New Testament which seem to connive at the married relation were interpreted by the Cathars as spoken in regard of Christ and the church.

  • None could be procured; the public passion swept everything before it; the patent was cancelled; Wood was compensated by a pension; Swift was raised to a height of popularity which he retained for the rest of his life; and the only real sufferers were the Irish people, who lost a convenience so badly needed that they might well have afforded to connive at Wood's illicit profits.

  • connive at the destruction of imaginations, not even to alleviate boredom.

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