collude

American  

[kuh-lood] / kəˈlud /

verb (used without object)

• colludes,
  present (3rd person singular)
• colluded,
  past participle,  past
• colluding
  present participle

1. to act together through a secret understanding, especially with evil or harmful intent.

2. to conspire in a fraud.

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collude British  

/ kəˈluːd /

verb

1. (intr) to conspire together, esp in planning a fraud; connive

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• colluder
  noun
• precollude
  verb (used without object)

Inflected Forms

Participles

• colluding
  present
• colluded
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• collude
  simple
• colludes
  simple
• have colluded
  perfect
• has colluded
  perfect
• am colluding
  progressive
• are colluding
  progressive
• is colluding
  progressive
• have been colluding
  perfect progressive
• has been colluding
  perfect progressive

Past

• colluded
  simple
• had colluded
  perfect
• was colluding
  progressive
• were colluding
  progressive
• had been colluding
  perfect progressive

Future

• will collude
  simple
• will have colluded
  perfect
• will be colluding
  progressive
• will have been colluding
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of collude

First recorded in 1515–25; from Latin collūdere “to play together,” equivalent to col- col- ¹ + lūdere “to play”

Explanation

When you collude with someone you secretly plot together to do something bad. You might collude with your twin sister to find out where all the birthday presents are hidden. The word collude entered English in the 16th century from the Latin word colludere, meaning “have a secret agreement,” a combination of col-, meaning “together,” and ludere, meaning “to play.” When you collude with someone, it's like you’re playing together on the same team for the purpose of getting something you want, typically something illegal or harmful. Companies may collude to keep prices high, or politicians may collude to keep damaging information secret.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

collude colludes colluded colluding

The visa revocation comes soon after senior U.S. officials described Mexico as a country controlled by drug traffickers and vowed to pursue Mexican officials who collude with the nation’s powerful cartels.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026

Separately, a federal class-action lawsuit filed in June by California drivers accused major gas chains of using AI software to collude and keep pump prices high.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2026

"You have insurance charges, floor charges, and various other levies that make production unsustainable," he told AFP, repeating allegations that contractors collude to keep prices low and "shortchange" producers.

From Barron's ● May 15, 2026

This week, Felix Salmon, Emily Peck, and Elizabeth Spiers discuss the lawsuit against RealPage, a software company the DOJ says helps landlords collude to keep rents too damn high.

From Slate ● Aug. 31, 2024

Public competitive bidding is not corruption-proof: many times officials and bidders collude and conspire to award the contract against bribes and other, non-cash, benefits.

From After the Rain : how the West lost the East by Samuel Vaknin

A character besotted with them — especially reductive trauma-filled ones — colludes in her own miniaturization.

From New York Times ● Jul. 14, 2023

His work explores the liminal space between interior and exterior worlds by stringing up a cat’s cradle of language in which his characters swing between memories, dreams, and reflections—an act in which the audience colludes.

From The New Yorker ● May 22, 2017

In his circles of hell, Dante gives it a harder time than lust, not least because it colludes with sins like envy and gluttony.

From BBC ● Apr. 15, 2016

But she also colludes in that secrecy, accepts it as the necessary condition on which she can know her mother.

From The Guardian ● Mar. 5, 2016

How is he to be punished or impeached if he colludes with any of these banks to embezzle the public money or defraud the government?

From The Great Speeches and Orations of Daniel Webster With an Essay on Daniel Webster as a Master of English Style by Daniel Webster

After she was arrested, Javice’s attorneys had argued that the Justice Department had improperly colluded with JPMorgan to bring a criminal case against her.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 14, 2026

“MRED and Compass have colluded to turn back the clock on consumer transparency.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 20, 2026

German authorities say "Mohammad S" colluded with "Abed Al G", one of three alleged Hamas members arrested last October over planned attacks on Jewish and Israeli institutions.

From BBC ● Jan. 24, 2026

We have no idea how many times Clase, in particular, colluded with bettors in this fashion.

From Slate ● Nov. 11, 2025

The Rosenwald organizers, catching Bobby’s implication that they’d colluded to make the pairings more favorable for some, expressed outrage at his protest.

From "Endgame" by Frank Brady

Through their lawyers, they accused Jahanshahi of colluding with the Salehpour family to prosecute them.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 18, 2026

Summer is coming, a boom time for ice cream makers, but Japanese authorities have raided six major firms on suspicion of colluding to raise prices.

From Barron's ● Jun. 17, 2026

Earlier this month, he was sentenced to 20 years in jail for colluding with foreign forces under the city's national security law.

From BBC ● Feb. 25, 2026

My remarks moved an apoplectic plaintiff’s lawyer to point across the room at his opposing counsel, leer in my direction, and ask, “So are you accusing me of colluding with him?”

From Slate ● Jan. 13, 2026

Many Osage had come to believe that local authorities were colluding with the killers and that only an outside force like Davis could cut through the corruption and solve the growing number of cases.

From "Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann

Related Words

• connive