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

“David called to vent about how protracted the settlement process had become—there was no intent to transmit information, intervene, or collude in the settlement,” Byrne said in a statement.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 24, 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

Herzog cites professional wrestling as an example of a spectacle in which the audience members and performers collude in a narrative that is patently false, yet has all the elements of legitimate competition.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 30, 2025

However, insiders guard against an assumption that just because a group of owners are from one country, they will collude to 'Americanise' English football.

From BBC ● May 23, 2025

And if any be found a seller of the Sacraments, that hee bee deposed simpliciter: and such as collude with slanderous persons in dispensing and over-seeing them for money, incurre the like punishment.

From The Acts Of The General Assemblies of the Church of Scotland by Church of Scotland. General Assembly

“It’s like I always say, the family that colludes together gets sued together.”

From New York Times ● Sep. 22, 2022

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

Athletes feel they must do it to compete, that they have no other choice in a system that even the state colludes in.

From Washington Post ● Jan. 14, 2016

The process of the Exchequer colludes with this interest.

From The Works of the Right Honourable Edmund Burke, Vol. 02 (of 12) by Burke, Edmund

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

Describing Mr. Lai as someone who colluded with “external forces” is a transparent whitewash.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 22, 2025

Mr Markle was found to have colluded with photographers who paid him for photos appearing to show the father of the bride preparing for the wedding.

From BBC ● Dec. 5, 2025

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

From Slate ● Nov. 11, 2025

Savvy operators within these organizations diverted trucks and colluded with smugglers to import fleets of secondhand cars, vans, and buses from China.

From "Escape from Camp 14: One Man's Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West" by Blaine Harden

Among the country's biggest ice cream firms, the six "are suspected of colluding" to hike prices, a source familiar with the matter told AFP on Wednesday.

From Barron's ● Jun. 17, 2026

With an attorney on the plaintiffs’ side of the lawsuit colluding with the city’s team, the city could settle the claims on favorable terms.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 18, 2026

The media tycoon, a British citizen, was found guilty of colluding with foreign forces under a controversial national security law.

From BBC ● Jan. 30, 2026

In December he was convicted of sedition and colluding with foreigners after an interminable trial that seemed designed to drag out his punishment.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 16, 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