complicit
Americanadjective
adjective
Etymology
Origin of complicit
First recorded in 1855–60; back formation from complicity
Compare meaning
How does complicit compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
When you're complicit, you're guilty of being involved in some underhanded or illegal activity. If you see your brother steal the neighbor's cat and don't say anything, you're complicit in a catnapping! Whenever someone makes it easier for a crime or wrongdoing to be committed, they're complicit in it. A getaway driver may not have actually robbed a bank, but she's still complicit in the crime of robbery because she helped the robber. And you may not be responsible for taking the neighbor's cat, but if you suggested to your brother that nobody would notice if he did (and promised not to tell), you're completely complicit!
Vocabulary lists containing complicit
Founding Brothers
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This Week In Words: Current Events Vocab for January 9–15, 2021
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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.
Sadly, we are complicit in this occluding of authentic experience.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 24, 2026
La Liga president Javier Tebas has criticised the "complicit silence" which surrounds Fifa after United States striker Folarin Balogun was controversially spared from suspension at the 2026 World Cup.
From BBC ● Jul. 7, 2026
In the process, she gutted the ATS—a law signed by President George Washington in 1789—and slammed the door on countless suits against corporations complicit in human rights abuses.
From Slate ● Jun. 24, 2026
But a report by the Kenyan intelligence services, seen by AFP, puts the figure at over 1,000 and says officials were complicit.
From Barron's ● Jun. 22, 2026
Yet the simple loveliness of the sky and sun and mountains makes me feel like nature is complicit in my country’s betrayal.
From "Internment" by Samira Ahmed
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.
