connivance means the process of conniving or conspiring. It carries an Arena rating of 1643, earned across 51 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, connivance ranks #203 of 17,143 for Best Fossil-Poetry Words, #2,500 of 17,142 for Most Ingenious Words, #2,514 of 17,127 for Words That Escaped Their Books, #3,362 of 17,132 for Most Betrayed by Its Sound.
connivance is pronounced /kəˈnaɪvəns/.
Why “connivance” is a great word
CONNIVANCE — [Noun] Secret or passive cooperation in or allowance of wrongdoing. From the Latin connīventia ("a winking, connivance"), from connīvēns, present participle of connīvēre ("to close the eyes, wink at, connive"). The earlier form 'connivence' was used from the late 16th century, with 'connivance' becoming the main form in the early 18th century. Unlike "complicity," which implies active partnership in a crime, or "consent," which denotes open and formal permission, connivance is the art of the averted gaze. It is the guard who studies his fingernails as the thief slips past, the official who files the damning report in a drawer that is never opened, the parent who asks no questions about the sudden new wealth—a quiet conspiracy of silence, signed with a wink and sealed by a closed eye.
Etymology
From early 18th c., replaced earlier form connivence (late 16th c.), from Latin connīventia, from connīvēns (“winking”).
noun
- The process of conniving or conspiring.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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