The word for today is…

connive (verb):

1 : to pretend ignorance of or fail to take action against something one ought to oppose
2a : to be indulgent or in secret sympathy : wink
b : to cooperate secretly or have a secret understanding
3 : conspire, intrigue

Source : Merriam -Webster

Etymology : Connive may not seem like a troublesome term, but it was to Wilson Follett, a usage critic who lamented that the word was undone during the Second World War, when restless spirits felt the need of a new synonym for plotting, bribing, spying, conspiring, engineering a coup, preparing a secret attack. Follett thought “connive” should only mean “to wink at” or “to pretend ignorance.” Those senses are closer to the Latin ancestor of the word (“connive” comes from the Latin connivere, which means “to close the eyes” and which is descended from “-nivere,” a form akin to the Latin verb nictare, meaning “to wink”). But many English speakers disagreed, and the “conspire” sense is now the word’s most widely used meaning.

If you enjoyed this BFD word of the day please consider sharing it with your friends and, especially, your children.

David is a retired surgeon originally from London who came to New Zealand twenty-seven years ago after being delayed in Singapore for thirteen years on leaving the UK. He was coerced into studying Latin...