Connivance is a noun referring to the act of secretly allowing wrongdoing or being involved in it, typically through cooperation or passive assent. It implies awareness of another’s misdeeds and a willingness to overlook or facilitate them. The term often carries a legal or formal tone when describing complicity in crime or unethical behavior.
"The company’s connivance with the whistleblower’s case was revealed in the internal memo."
"There was no connivance on his part; he reported the fraud as soon as he discovered it."
"The jury found evidence of connivance between the two executives to hide losses."
"Scholars argued that the copious omissions indicated corporate connivance rather than mere negligence."
Connivance comes from the late Latin connivantia, from con- (together) + nasci (to be born, arise) via Latin connivere (to bend toward, overlook). In old French, conivance appeared as connivance or connivancy, reflecting both the idea of looking aside and conspiring. The modern noun sense—being involved in wrongdoing by looking the other way or aiding covertly—emerged in English by the 16th to 17th centuries, often in legal or moral discussions. The core sense retained the connotation of passive agreement or facilitation, though the word can also appear in more general contexts where one’s silent tolerance enables misconduct. Historically, its usage has skewed formal or literary, yet it remains common in legal, political, and ethical discourse. First known uses include records in early English legal texts and moral treatises, where connivance described an indirect but meaningful participation. Over time, the term has maintained its precise insinuation of complicity through silence or subtle cooperation, rather than overt action. Today, connivance frequently collocates with terms like corporate, official, or judicial to underscore institutional responsibility.
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Words that rhyme with "Connivance"
-nce sounds
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Pronounce as kon-NI-vəns, with primary stress on NI. IPA: US/UK/AU /kɒnˈaɪ.vəns/. Start with /k/ then /ɒ/ (short o), follow with a stressed /aɪ/ diphthong, then /vən/ and end with /s/. Visualize a quick jaw drop for /aɪ/ and a light, voiced /v/ before the unstressed /ə/ in /vəns/. Audio reference: you can compare with words like ‘convenience’ for the /ən/ blend and ‘invent’ for the /ɪ/ quality in unstressed positions.
Common errors: 1) misplacing stress, saying con-NI-vance with uneven emphasis; 2) turning /aɪ/ into a short /ɪ/ or /eɪ/ so it sounds like ‘con-in-vance’; 3) softening the /v/ or swallowing the /ən/ into a quick /ən/ without clear /v/. Correction: keep the /aɪ/ as a true diphthong, deliver /v/ clearly before the schwa, and produce /ən/ as a light, unstressed syllable before final /s/.
Across accents, primary differences are in the vowel quality and rhoticity. US/CA tends to use a clear /ɒ/ or /ɑ/ depending on region, with a pronounced /aɪ/ and non-rhotic or rhotic variations; UK often uses a shorter /ɒ/ and crisper /ɪ/ in the /aɪ/ diphthong, with non-rhotic tendencies in many dialects; AU often aligns with non-rhotic but with broader, more drawled /aɪ/ and a slightly softer /vəns/. Regardless, the /aɪ/ stress nucleus remains prominent, and the final /ns/ remains stable. IPA references: US /kɒnˈaɪ.vəns/, UK /kɒnˈaɪ.vəns/, AU /kɒnˈaɪ.vəns/.
The difficulty centers on the /ˈaɪ/ diphthong in the stressed syllable and the sequence /ˈaɪ.vəns/ where the /v/ lightly meets a neutral /ə/ before /ns/. The onset /k/ blends with a trailing /ɒ/ or /ɒn/ before the diphthong, which can cause glottal or clipped pronunciations for non-native speakers. Practice sustaining the diphthong and articulating the /v/ and the unstressed /ə/ clearly before the final /ns/.
Yes. The word uniquely stresses the second syllable with /ˈaɪ/ as the nucleus, making it easy to misplace stress as you say kon-NAI-vance. It also features a distinct cluster /ˈaɪ.və/ before the final /ns/. Paying attention to the /æɪ/ glide and the smooth transition to /v/ and /ə/ helps, as does keeping the /ə/ unstressed and crisp /ns/ at the end.
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