CONNIVANCE

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does connivance mean? 

• CONNIVANCE (noun)
  The noun CONNIVANCE has 2 senses:

1. agreement on a secret plot

2. (law) tacit approval of someone's wrongdoing

  Familiarity information: CONNIVANCE used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• CONNIVANCE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Agreement on a secret plot

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

collusion; connivance

Hypernyms ("connivance" is a kind of...):

agreement (the verbal act of agreeing)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "connivance"):

cahoot (collusion)

Derivation:

connive (form intrigues (for) in an underhand manner)

Sense 2

Meaning:

(law) tacit approval of someone's wrongdoing

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

connivance; secret approval; tacit consent

Hypernyms ("connivance" is a kind of...):

approval; commendation (a message expressing a favorable opinion)

Domain category:

jurisprudence; law (the collection of rules imposed by authority)

Derivation:

connive (encourage or assent to illegally or criminally)

 Context examples 

In this state of schemes, and hopes, and connivance, June opened upon Hartfield.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

With the connivance and assistance of his wife he disguised himself, covered those keen eyes with tinted glasses, masked the face with a moustache and a pair of bushy whiskers, sunk that clear voice into an insinuating whisper, and doubly secure on account of the girl’s short sight, he appears as Mr. Hosmer Angel, and keeps off other lovers by making love himself.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

About a year ago, she was taken from school, and an establishment formed for her in London; and last summer she went with the lady who presided over it, to Ramsgate; and thither also went Mr. Wickham, undoubtedly by design; for there proved to have been a prior acquaintance between him and Mrs. Younge, in whose character we were most unhappily deceived; and by her connivance and aid, he so far recommended himself to Georgiana, whose affectionate heart retained a strong impression of his kindness to her as a child, that she was persuaded to believe herself in love, and to consent to an elopement.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)