complicity
Americannoun
plural
complicitiesnoun
-
the fact or condition of being an accomplice, esp in a criminal act
-
a less common word for complexity
Other Word Forms
- complicitous adjective
- noncomplicity noun
Etymology
Origin of complicity
1650–60; < Late Latin complic-, stem of complex complice + -ity
Explanation
Complicity is involvement in a wrongful act — like when you drove your newly-turned-vegetarian friend to a fast food joint so that she could scarf down a hamburger. Complicity refers to the act of helping someone else behave inappropriately or illegally. If you find yourself accused of complicity, it's often helpful to show that you were unaware of the other person's intentions. In the case of the trip to the fast food restaurant, that's going to be hard to prove. You'll probably be scorned for being an accomplice, or someone who is complicit, in your friend's shameful act.
Vocabulary lists containing complicity
Animal Farm
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The Things They Carried
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Boots on the Ground: America's War in Vietnam
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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.
When we challenge him about his complicity in the alleged operation, Marwan says: "I am deeply sorry... I was under threat."
From BBC • Apr. 14, 2026
It unites the teller and those he is assured will laugh in complicity in its viciousness.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 21, 2025
Social movements are now better positioned to pressure government officials, by raising the political and reputational costs of complicity with crimes against humanity.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 3, 2025
That linguistic timidity —our inability to name what’s happening — is itself a form of complicity, and the result of a combination of fear and fecklessness.
From Salon • Nov. 13, 2025
Or it could own up to its complicity.
From "A Few Red Drops: The Chicago Race Riot of 1919" by Claire Hartfield
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.
