Connivance

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /kəˈnaɪvəns/

Definitions

1. The act of secretly allowing or encouraging wrongdoing by ignoring or failing to prevent it
2. A concealed or passive agreement to participate in improper actions without openly objecting
3. The tacit cooperation in illicit or unethical activities by deliberately overlooking or permitting them

Etymology: The most striking thing about "connivance" is the literal image behind it. The Latin "connivere" combined "con-" (together) with a verb meaning to close the eyes or blink, and the participle "connivens" meant "winking." To connive was to shut one's eyes to something, and the modern sense of tacitly letting wrongdoing happen grew directly out of that gesture of looking away. The word reached English in the late 16th century as "connivence," and it took its present spelling in the early 18th century. Its path into English ran through Latin "conniventia," a noun built on the same blinking root, so the sense of deliberate overlooking was present from the start rather than acquired later.

Synonyms: collusion, complicity, conspiracy, tacit approval, agreement

Antonyms: opposition, resistance, disapproval, denunciation, condemnation