conspire
Americanverb (used without object)
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to agree together, especially secretly, to do something wrong, evil, or illegal.
They conspired to kill the king.
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to act or work together toward the same result or goal.
The wind and rain conspired to strip the trees of their fall color.
verb (used with object)
verb
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to plan or agree on (a crime or harmful act) together in secret
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(intr) to act together towards some end as if by design
the elements conspired to spoil our picnic
Usage
What does conspire mean? Conspire commonly means to secretly plan with multiple other people to do something wrong, evil, or illegal. Such a plan is called a conspiracy. Conspiracy can also refer to the act of making such plans—the act of conspiring—or to the group making the plans. The people involved can be called conspirators. In a legal context, conspiracy refers to an agreement by two or more people conspiring to commit a crime. Conspire can also mean to act together to achieve some result. This use often likens inanimate objects to people engaging in a conspiracy, as in I was on time until the traffic and the weather conspired to make me late. Example: In the movie, supervillains conspire to steal all of the world’s bananas.
Related Words
See plot.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of conspire
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Middle French conspirer, from Latin conspīrāre “to act in harmony, conspire,” equivalent to con- + spīrāre “to breathe”; see origin at con-, spirant, spirit
Explanation
When you conspire, you collaborate with others to do harm, or maybe just keep something from happening, like a group that conspires to get tuna melts booted from the lunch menu by urging everyone to order other things. You can conspire with someone, meaning you team up with another person to plot against someone else, or you can conspire against someone. This means you devise a scheme to do that person harm. Conspire also can be used in a more figurative sense to describe events that cause problems, like bad weather that may conspire against your picnic plans, or a series of injuries that conspire against a basketball team struggling to make the playoffs.
Vocabulary lists containing conspire
Power Prefix: con-
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1984
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Grade 9, List 5
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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.
And so, on a dark road on a winter's night somewhere between Coronation Street's Manchester setting and Emmerdale's West Yorkshire home, circumstances conspire to bring characters from both camps together.
From BBC • Jan. 2, 2026
In popular usage, it assumes the thing signified must be false, whereas people do conspire, and it is reasonable to devise theories about their schemes.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 23, 2025
Circumstances can conspire against us, but there should be room for improvement.
From MarketWatch • Nov. 28, 2025
Media culture, Laurel Canyon culture, gender culture all conspire to keep Lane and Gala from being what a writer needs most to be: honest.
From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 1, 2025
Prison and the authorities conspire to rob each man of his dignity.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
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.
