conspirator
Americannoun
Usage
What does conspirator mean? A conspirator is someone engaged in a conspiracy—a secret plan by multiple people to do something evil or illegal. The word conspiracy can also refer to the act of making such plans—the act of conspiring—or to the group making the plans. In a legal context, conspiracy refers to an agreement by two or more people to commit a crime. In any of these cases, the people involved can be called conspirators. The word co-conspirator refers to a fellow conspirator—a conspirator conspiring with one or more other conspirators in a conspiracy. But, by itself, the word conspirator always implies that there are multiple people involved—there is never a single conspirator. A conspiracy theory is an explanation of an event that claims it was the result of a secret and often complex and evil plot by multiple conspirators. People who promote or formulate conspiracy theories often reject the standard or accepted explanation of unexplained or unusual events and claim that they are the doing of evil conspirators secretly conspiring behind the scenes. Example: This isn’t the work of one man—it’s a conspiracy, and there are more conspirators than you think!
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of conspirator
First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English conspiratour, from Anglo-French, from Latin conspīrātor, from conspīrā(tus) “united, acted in harmony” (past participle of conspīrāre; see conspire) + -tor -tor
Explanation
A conspirator sneaks around making plans to commit crimes with other people. A conspirator’s plans are often politically motivated, and not always illegal but always secret and sneaky. You know how some people think that the Apollo moon landing was a hoax or that everything is controlled by alien lizard people? No? Well, people who see secret plots everywhere believe in conspiracies, and anyone involved in a conspiracy is a conspirator. However, many conspirators are real and part of everyday plots, like to rob a bank. All conspirators work in secret to commit crimes. Any crime involving more than one person will have conspirators.
Vocabulary lists containing conspirator
Monster
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The Hobbit
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Chains
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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.
We talked to Slash about a week before Halloween Horror Nights opened from Orlando, Fla., where he was holed up recording an album with his band the Conspirators.
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 5, 2025
Conspirators have convinced themselves of the world they wish to see.
From The Guardian • Sep. 23, 2020
Conspirators who meet secretly at a Maryland crab restaurant.
From New York Times • Jan. 24, 2020
Beginning in or around June 2016, the Conspirators staged and released tens of thousands of the stolen emails and documents.
From The New Yorker • Jul. 24, 2018
Conspirators have a logic and a daring beyond our reach.
From "Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
