1
as in winked
to secretly sympathize with or pretend ignorance of something improper or unlawful the principal connived at all the school absences that were recorded on the day of the city's celebration of its Super Bowl victory
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in plotted
to engage in a secret plan to accomplish evil or unlawful ends suspects that his coworkers are conniving to get him fired
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for connived
Verb
-
Sartorial outerwear crafted from archival fabrics mingled with pieces that winked to utility and workwear, with a few styles looking to balance these two souls in a single design, such as double wool hooded capes and coats.—
Sandra Salibian, Footwear News, 2 Mar. 2026
-
Stayton then reportedly winked and told the protester they'd be charged with a felony.— Jolene Almendarez, Cincinnati Enquirer, 12 Nov. 2025
Verb
-
Authorities say the teen carefully plotted the shooting at his Barrow County high school, including allegedly leaving a notebook with handwritten instructions detailing the steps to prepare for the violence and a diagram of his classroom.— Dan Raby, CBS News, 17 Apr. 2026
-
Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro’s spy chief, who is accused of having plotted a coup attempt to keep his boss in power.— Brady Knox, The Washington Examiner, 14 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
But documents released by the government in March, after being forced to by Parliament, showed Starmer ignored red flags raised by his staff about the appointment.— ABC News, ABC News, 17 Apr. 2026
-
America’s $39 trillion national debt has become a familiar political football—batted around in budget negotiations, invoked at congressional hearings, and largely ignored between elections.— Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 16 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
San Francisco jurors stopped short of finding the Texas billionaire intentionally schemed to defraud investors.— Staff, Austin American Statesman, 20 Mar. 2026
-
The Democratic primary was uncontested after Garcia quietly schemed to place his chief of staff, Patty Garcia, on the ballot without any Democratic competition.— ABC News, ABC News, 17 Mar. 2026
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Cite this Entry
“Connived.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.grautoblog.com/thesaurus/connived. Accessed 24 Apr. 2026.
Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
