1
as in to ignore
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
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to plot
to engage in a secret plan to accomplish evil or unlawful ends
suspects that his coworkers are conniving to get him fired
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of connive
Tony Goldwyn got some hate for his role as the film’s villain
Tony Goldwyn recalled to the A.V. Club in 2014 that his role as the conniving, murderous Carl prompted a waitress to refuse to serve him.
—
Drew MacKie, People.com, 13 July 2025
Unfortunately, an evil Starfleet admiral (Anthony Zerbe) and a conniving alien (F. Murray Abraham) have teamed up to steal the planet’s mojo for themselves.
—Chris Snellgrove, EW.com, 30 June 2025
The presence of Good, standing by her man, cast doubt on Jabbari, who is white, and helped create a counter-narrative: that a good Black man had been bamboozled by a conniving white woman.
—Doreen St. Félix, New Yorker, 5 Apr. 2025
Overall, my makeup still felt as sharp and conniving as Demi Engemann.
—Cam Zhang, StyleCaster, 1 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for connive
Drew MacKie, People.com, 13 July 2025
Unfortunately, an evil Starfleet admiral (Anthony Zerbe) and a conniving alien (F. Murray Abraham) have teamed up to steal the planet’s mojo for themselves.
—Chris Snellgrove, EW.com, 30 June 2025
The presence of Good, standing by her man, cast doubt on Jabbari, who is white, and helped create a counter-narrative: that a good Black man had been bamboozled by a conniving white woman.
—Doreen St. Félix, New Yorker, 5 Apr. 2025
Overall, my makeup still felt as sharp and conniving as Demi Engemann.
—Cam Zhang, StyleCaster, 1 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for connive
Recent Examples of Synonyms for connive
Verb
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Similarly, while some food stamp provisions remain, the narrative ignores the potential for reduced access for others, including children and pregnant women, under changes to eligibility.—
Letters to the Editor,
The Orlando Sentinel,
23 July 2025
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Donald Trump promised to go after the worst of the worst, but his administration's heavy-handed tactics in many cases ignore people's constitutional rights and the rule of law.—
Billal Rahman,
MSNBC Newsweek,
23 July 2025
Verb
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Heading into the summer, Howe and the decision-makers at St James’ Park were surely plotting how to move forward again.—
Graham Ruthven,
Forbes.com,
26 July 2025
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Republicans are plotting a similar scheme in Texas to secure their tenuous hold on Congress.—
Orlando Sentinel,
The Orlando Sentinel,
25 July 2025
Verb
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The three-man comedy factory that ruled the 1980s with their fusillades of slapstick, sight gags, loopy non sequiturs and winking innuendo was David Zucker, Jim Abrahams and Jerry Zucker — Hollywood’s ZAZ before David Zaslav.—
David Rooney,
HollywoodReporter,
30 July 2025
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One of them made eye contact with me, grinned, and winked.—
Sloane Crosley,
Travel + Leisure,
15 July 2025
Verb
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Humans could scheme and possibly find a means of turning off AI or otherwise defeating AI.—
Lance Eliot,
Forbes.com,
19 July 2025
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Charles Lee is, too, in his own way, given that Sexton provides the Hornets coach with another weapon to force the opposition to scheme for.—
Roderick Boone,
Charlotte Observer,
17 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Connive.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/connive. Accessed 6 Aug. 2025.
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