conspiracynoun [ C or U ]
uk/kənˈspɪr.ə.si/us/kənˈspɪr.ə.si/the activity of secretly planning with other people to do something bad or illegal:
The three men are accused of conspiracy.
[ + to infinitive ] She has been charged with conspiracy to murder.
I think there was a conspiracy to keep me off the committee.
conspiracy of silence
a general agreement to keep silent about a subject for the purpose of keeping it secret
More examples
- They are both charged with conspiracy to defraud an insurance company of $20 000.
- It's all part of a conspiracy to keep women down.
- He believes there is a right-wing conspiracy organized by the CIA and the military-industrial complex to maneuver the country into another war.
- The tape recordings provided prosecutors with the smoking gun they needed to prove he'd been involved in the conspiracy.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Plotting & trapping
- be in league with sb idiom
- cahoots
- catch sb out
- chicanery
- cloak-and-dagger
- conspire
- entrap
- entrapment
- hatch
- have a card up your sleeve idiom
- honey trap
- plot
- plotter
- put-up job
- scheme
- set-up
- snare
- sting
- stratagem
- trap
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