connive
verb (used without object)
to cooperate secretly; conspire (often followed bywith ).
connived
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past participleof connive.past participle
A verb form used in perfect and passive verb constructions and that can also function as a modifier.
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past tense formof connive.past tense
Used to describe completed actions or previous habitual actions.
conniveverb (used without object)to cooperate secretly; conspire (often followed bywith ).
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Murdaugh’s lawyers contend that Hill connived to have a juror removed—the so-called Egg Lady—because Hill feared she wasn’t inclined to convict.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 24, 2026
But for years she waylaid me on the street to complain and raised that incident at meetings to prove the editors connived with the paid Coop staff to prevent pro-democracy voices from being heard.
From Salon ● Apr. 23, 2022
Crowned and uncrowned, during periods of supposedly republican government and not, they largely ruled the city-state, or connived to, from the mid-14th to the mid-18th centuries, using art to cement their power.
From New York Times ● Jun. 24, 2021
His father was a mercurial conman who spent time in prison for insurance fraud but who also connived his way into London’s upper society.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 13, 2020
Bono had, I ascertained, connived to secrete them when we had removed to this house from the town; having no use for them upon his exile, he had left them for me.
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party" by M.T. Anderson
