conspiracy
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
a secret plan made by a group of people to do something illegal or harmful.
a secret agreement between two or more persons to perform an unlawful or harmful act; often used in legal contexts to describe the agreement itself as a crime.
Simple“The police uncovered a conspiracy to steal millions of dollars from the national bank.”
In context“The defendants were charged with criminal conspiracy after investigators found encrypted messages detailing their plan to sabotage the competitor's infrastructure.”
UsageOften used with the preposition 'to' followed by an infinitive verb, or 'against' followed by a person or entity.
- 02 B2 Upper Intermediate
a belief that a secret, powerful group is responsible for an event.
a hypothesis or belief alleging that a secret group is responsible for a specific event or situation; frequently used as a shorthand for 'conspiracy theory'.
Simple“He spent all night reading a conspiracy about how the moon landing was fake.”
In context“The rise of social media has accelerated the spread of various conspiracies regarding global health initiatives and government surveillance.”
Teacher's tipWhile technically 'conspiracy' refers to the act, in modern informal English it is very common to use it to mean the 'theory' itself.
- 03 C2 Proficiency
when different rules in a language lead to the same result.
a situation in which different phonological or grammatical rules within a language produce similar or related phonetic outcomes.
Simple“The professor explained how a conspiracy of sound changes led to the loss of the final vowel.”
In context“In generative phonology, a conspiracy occurs when several distinct rules appear to be motivated by a single surface-level constraint.”
UsageUsed almost exclusively in academic papers or advanced linguistics lectures.
Synonyms - 04 C2 Proficiency
the special name for a group of ravens or lemurs.
a collective noun used specifically for a group of ravens or, less commonly, lemurs.
Simple“A conspiracy of ravens gathered in the old oak tree as the sun set.”
In context“The poet used the term 'a conspiracy of lemurs' to evoke a sense of mystery and secret communication among the forest creatures.”
Teacher's tipThis is a 'term of venery' and is very rare in everyday speech; it is mostly found in trivia or poetic writing.
Usage conspiracy theories
“It also fueled conspiracy theories from people who argued the article was being attacked “because if there was a cure for Covid then they couldn’t sell their vaccines”, he said.”
“Because let’s face it, that is exactly what the most paranoid of fans will have expected somebody at the heart of a massive conspiracy to say.”
From Middle English conspiracie, from Anglo-Norman conspiracie, from Latin cōnspīrātiō, from conspire + -acy.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.