1
as in to ignore
to secretly sympathize with or pretend ignorance of something improper or unlawful
the principal connived at all the school absences that were recorded on the day of the city's celebration of its Super Bowl victory
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to plot
to engage in a secret plan to accomplish evil or unlawful ends
suspects that his coworkers are conniving to get him fired
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of connive
Clueless owner allows manipulative, conniving GM to convince him, in the face of mountains of contrary evidence, that the head coach is the problem.
—
Jeff Howe, The Athletic, 24 Jan. 2025
Daemon Targaryen Former Doctor Who, Matt Smith, cuts a charismatic and conniving figure as Daemon Targaryen.
—David Faris, Newsweek, 28 Dec. 2024
Sweeney writes, directs, and stars in the film as Dennis, a conniving Portland twink who strikes up a bromance with Dylan O’Brien after infiltrating a support group for people who’ve lost their twin siblings.
—Kate Erbland, IndieWire, 1 Feb. 2025
Megan Suri breathes fresh life into the conniving gold-digger trope, while Friend enjoys chewing the scenery as the grotesque Sergey.
—Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 22 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for connive
Jeff Howe, The Athletic, 24 Jan. 2025
Daemon Targaryen Former Doctor Who, Matt Smith, cuts a charismatic and conniving figure as Daemon Targaryen.
—David Faris, Newsweek, 28 Dec. 2024
Sweeney writes, directs, and stars in the film as Dennis, a conniving Portland twink who strikes up a bromance with Dylan O’Brien after infiltrating a support group for people who’ve lost their twin siblings.
—Kate Erbland, IndieWire, 1 Feb. 2025
Megan Suri breathes fresh life into the conniving gold-digger trope, while Friend enjoys chewing the scenery as the grotesque Sergey.
—Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 22 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for connive
Recent Examples of Synonyms for connive
Verb
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Many such studies ignore, rather than seriously examine, biological realities.—
Mary Kekatos,
ABC News,
23 Mar. 2025
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While Trump might be tempted therefore to simply ignore those critics, the Yemen crisis is a golden opportunity for his administration to advance and strengthen an important ...—
Julian Ku,
National Review,
23 Mar. 2025
Verb
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With space behind the defence strangled and the centre of the pitch condensed, plotting a course requires precise combination play.—
Jordan Campbell,
The Athletic,
14 Mar. 2025
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Police said Victoria denied wanting Aaron dead and plotting to kill him, per TMZ.—
Ryan Coleman,
EW.com,
14 Mar. 2025
Verb
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In time’s deeps, everything begins to engulf us, red galaxies winking from the end.—
Julie Swarstad Johnson,
Scientific American,
18 Mar. 2025
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The two paid a winking homage to the movie’s breakup scene, in which Segel gets dumped by Bell’s TV starlet character while fully nude.—
Natalie Oganesyan,
Deadline,
23 Feb. 2025
Verb
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The majority alliance also schemed to have Sai Hughley play her immunity idol, therefore flushing it from the game.—
Emily DeLetter,
USA TODAY,
13 Mar. 2025
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The veteran tight end is one of the more athletic around the NFL and teams had to scheme against him.—
William Lambers,
Newsweek,
8 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Connive.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/connive. Accessed 29 Mar. 2025.
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