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Definition of conspiracy in US English:

conspiracy

noun

1A secret plan by a group to do something unlawful or harmful.
‘a conspiracy to destroy the government’
- ‘We are part of the same sordid conspiracy against public understanding.’
- ‘Sometimes, I think we believe in conspiracies because they provide comfort.’
- ‘Where there were kings, queens, palaces there ought to be intrigues, conspiracies and secret tunnels.’
- ‘In brief, the claimant has managed to convince himself that he is the victim of a Jewish judicial conspiracy.’
- ‘So I suppose this makes me a member of the international neocon conspiracy as well as an evil shill for the oil industry.’
- ‘The tacit conspiracy is the cause; the secret conspiracies are the symptoms.’
- ‘I have not seen the signs of corruption and conspiracy of which the father speaks in going through the papers.’
- ‘The problem with conspiracy theories is that they give people who spot real conspiracies a bad name.’
- ‘If the uncovered ‘secrets’ involve grand conspiracies, so much the better.’
- ‘It is loaded with danger, physical and financial, and comes with a hint of conspiracy.’
- ‘We're all conspiratorial minded in America because there are so many conspiracies.’
- ‘Oh, and his predecessor was probably murdered as part of some massive conspiracy.’
- ‘But to say that history cannot be explained by conspiracy does not mean that there are no conspiracies in history.’
- ‘In this case, propaganda was a weapon of tremendous importance to this conspiracy.’
- ‘This documentary itself is part of another conspiracy, that of the left.’
- ‘They were the ones who uncovered conspiracies, unmasked the wrongdoers and alerted the world to crimes against humanity.’
- ‘You can go on forever trying to prove there's some conspiracy, some plot.’
- ‘The third fact of the matter is that it's not some sinister conspiracy.’
- ‘Belief in plots and conspiracies was yet another sign of the credulity of the times.’
- ‘They often doubt each other's intentions and accuse each other of hatching conspiracies.’
plot, scheme, stratagem, plan, machination, cabal
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1. 1.1 The action of plotting or conspiring.
  ‘they were cleared of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice’
  ‘He also faces charges of conspiracy to commit burglaries and steal motor vehicles in West Yorkshire.’
  ‘It will decide whether charges of forgery and conspiracy to defraud should be brought.’
  ‘Three other gang members were jailed for between two and four years while a fourth was cleared of conspiracy.’
  ‘She was cleared of misconduct in a public office and conspiracy to supply a class A drug.’
  ‘Both have pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to defraud and making a false instrument.’
  ‘The five accused men, three from the company and two customers, all deny a charge of conspiracy to defraud.’
  ‘Tamper with a witness and see how you would go on a charge of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.’
  ‘The Fourth and Fifth Defendants colluded in conspiracy to defraud for their own personal gains.’
  ‘If this act is committed by an individual acting alone it will also escape the offence of conspiracy to defraud.’
  ‘Charges of conspiracy to defraud and two of conspiracy to obtain a money transfer by deception were left on the file.’
  ‘The second man is also being held on suspicion of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.’
  ‘Two women and seven men have been arrested for theft and conspiracy to defraud.’
  ‘He had previously admitted conspiracy to do acts tending or intending to pervert the course of justice.’
  ‘There seem to be few prosecutions for conspiracy to defraud directed at public officials.’
  ‘Seven men have pleaded guilty to conspiracy to burglary, and another is wanted by police.’
  ‘She is serving three-and-a-half years in prison for conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.’
  ‘He faces charges of attempted murder and aiding the enemy and conspiracy to commit war crimes.’
  ‘One recent suit charges him with kidnapping minors and conspiracy to commit genocide.’
  ‘They are each accused of conspiracy to defraud the Returning Officer of Burnley Borough Council.’
  ‘He was found guilty of one count of conspiracy to defraud and 10 of corruptly offering money.’
  plotting, collusion, intrigue, connivance, machination, collaboration
  View synonyms

Phrases

a conspiracy of silence

An agreement to say nothing about an issue that should be generally known.
- ‘The remarkable thing, however, is that far from bringing this fact in itself to the attention of their own public, the western media impose a conspiracy of silence and instead merely collude with the propaganda of violent conflict.’
- ‘In a room where people unanimously maintain a conspiracy of silence, one word of truth sounds like a pistol shot.’
- ‘Society imposes a conspiracy of silence around rape.’
- ‘So there'll be a conspiracy of silence about it.’
- ‘There were also calls to revive the issues that had been subject to a debilitating conspiracy of silence.’
- ‘Perhaps for obvious reasons, there seems to have been a conspiracy of silence among most European politicians during the past fifty years on the subject of Confederation.’
- ‘There's a conspiracy of silence around this issue.’
- ‘It's not a conspiracy; it's not a conspiracy of silence.’
- ‘The only difference is that this bout of political lying is buttressed by a bipartisan conspiracy of silence in which media commentators and bloggers alike are complicit.’
- ‘This will help to break the conspiracy of silence.’

Origin

Late Middle English: from Anglo-Norman French conspiracie, alteration of Old French conspiration, based on Latin conspirare ‘agree, plot’ (see conspire).