as in conspiracy
a secret agreement or cooperation between two parties for an illegal or dishonest purpose
the two major auction houses acting in complicity to drive up the prices of art works
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Recent Examples of complicity
The Committee for the First Amendment is a group of artists and storytellers standing together to defend free expression against government repression and industry complicity, launched in October with a statement from Fonda and more than 550 supporters from across Hollywood.
—
Kirsten Chuba, HollywoodReporter, 7 May 2026
What about the complicity of the parents in these situations?
—Marlow Stern, Variety, 28 Apr. 2026
Garcia joined our conversation with Parke in perfect Spanish, and the rapport and complicity between the two is evident.
—Darío Gael Blanco, Vanity Fair, 25 Apr. 2026
The crimes of Jedwabne, rupturing historical narratives that centered solely on the victimhood and heroism of Poles under the Nazis, became a symbol of Polish complicity in the Holocaust.
—Shira Li Bartov, Sun Sentinel, 21 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for complicity
Kirsten Chuba, HollywoodReporter, 7 May 2026
What about the complicity of the parents in these situations?
—Marlow Stern, Variety, 28 Apr. 2026
Garcia joined our conversation with Parke in perfect Spanish, and the rapport and complicity between the two is evident.
—Darío Gael Blanco, Vanity Fair, 25 Apr. 2026
The crimes of Jedwabne, rupturing historical narratives that centered solely on the victimhood and heroism of Poles under the Nazis, became a symbol of Polish complicity in the Holocaust.
—Shira Li Bartov, Sun Sentinel, 21 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for complicity
Recent Examples of Synonyms for complicity
Noun
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Now, he's pardoned all of these people, despite the fact that they were convicted of violently assaulting police officers, conspiring to overthrow the government of the United States in seditious conspiracy, and so on.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
17 May 2026
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Shannon Kurrie, 61, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud in the scheme earlier this month, according to the federal agency.—
Nick Lentz,
CBS News,
16 May 2026
Noun
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However, the deal faces scrutiny, with SpaceX's president viewing it as competition and regulatory experts raising concerns about potential collusion among the high-margin competitors.—
David Phelan,
Forbes.com,
17 May 2026
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Third, militant operational collusion has deepened between the Balochistan Liberation Army and the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, the latter ranked by the Institute for Economics and Peace as the world’s fastest-growing insurgent group in 2024.—
Amira Jadoon,
The Conversation,
13 May 2026
Noun
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Individuals and groups have often accused the U.S. government of denying their rights, and some of those accusations were irrefutable—as in the century between Appomattox and Selma, when the rights of Black Americans were denied throughout the South with the connivance of Washington.—
George Packer,
The Atlantic,
27 Jan. 2026
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But widespread disgust with the mayor’s mendacity and the connivance of eight City Council members is changing the political landscape.—
U T Readers,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
2 Dec. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Complicity.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/complicity. Accessed 22 May. 2026.
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