complicit

[kuhm-plis-it]

adjective

1. choosing to be involved in an illegal or questionable act, especially with others; having complicity.

complicit

/ ˌkɒmˈplɪsɪt /

adjective

1. involved with others in reprehensible or illegal activity

Word History and Origins

Origin of complicit¹

First recorded in 1855–60; back formation from complicity

Word History and Origins

Origin of complicit¹

C20: back formation from _complicity

Example Sentences

The pledge obligates actors, directors and producers not to screen films, appear in or work with what it considers complicit institutions, including festivals, cinemas, broadcasters and production companies.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

“It is the first major refusal of the international film industry at large that targets complicit Israeli film institutions and companies.”

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Several Democrats condemned the charges, with House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries denouncing them as "a disgraceful attack on the rule of law", and vowing "accountability" for "anyone complicit in this malignant corruption".

Read more on BBC

Earlier this year, a United Nations expert called on dozens of multinational companies to stop doing business with Israel, warning them they risked being complicit in war crimes in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.

Read more on BBC

Many individual faces are blurred — some seemingly intentionally, as if the original printer of the photographic negative meant to shield identity, protecting the complicit.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• conniving