conniving

[ kuh-nahy-ving ]

adjective

cooperating secretly, especially with harmful or evil intent; conspiring: a conniving liar and thief.

Origin of conniving

First recorded in 1625–50; connive + -ing²

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

He becomes consumed with making money for his expanding empire—Garfield plays the older, graying version of Jim as a half conniving, half distracted striver.
The Eyes of Tammy Faye Turns the Fallen Televangelist into Camp Curiosity | Stephanie Zacharek | September 17, 2021 | Time
In closing arguments in June 2017, Theobald did everything in her power to discredit Jennifer, casting her as a desperate, conniving woman.
He Beat Her Repeatedly. Family Court Tried to Give Him Joint Custody of Their Children. | by Megan O’Matz | September 16, 2021 | ProPublica
Women felt judged according to a lingering belief that while the pure souls perished, the conniving ones survived.
Why the Stories of Jewish Women Who Fought the Nazis Remained Hidden for So Long | Judy Batalion | April 8, 2021 | Time
He defeated what was left of the Tatars, mostly by conniving with leaders of what was left of the Tatars.
Russian History Is on Our Side: Putin Will Surely Screw Himself | P. J. O’Rourke | May 11, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
Why, then, are we led to believe that her conniving ways are so ineffectual and misdirected?
The Abused Wives of Westeros: A Song of Feminism in ‘Game of Thrones’ | Amy Zimmerman | April 30, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST

Fondly nicknamed “the Worst Boy In Town,” Penrod is conniving but not clever, wicked but rarely cruel.
American Dreams, 1914: Penrod by Booth Tarkington | Nathaniel Rich | February 27, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
A sexy, sexual, conniving, social-media mentioning, sexy baby spider!
Frank Underwood Will Not Tolerate Insubordination in This Olive Garden | Kelly Williams Brown | February 24, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
Predictably, Harding was cast as a conniving, violent woman.
ESPN’s ‘The Price of Gold’ Revisits the Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan Scandal | Amy Zimmerman | January 15, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
It has come to the notice of the Committee that many parents are conniving at the practice of having liquor at adolescent parties.
Report of the Special Committee on Moral Delinquency in Children and Adolescents | Oswald Chettle Mazengarb et al.
I fear the latter—He has ever kept too strict a course to admit his conniving at such licence.
Peveril of the Peak | Sir Walter Scott
If some dozen of the conniving deputies had been sent there, Warden Tapp might have had less to extenuate.
The Incendiary | W. A. (William Augustine) Leahy
In the former event, if I remained silent, I should be conniving at a marriage which would make her miserable for life.
The Moonstone | Wilkie Collins
Leaflets ovate, glandless or glandular, with the serratures conniving.
Parsons on the Rose | Samuel Browne Parsons

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