complicit
/kəmˈplɪs.ɪt/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.19 in modern English
17
Scrabble Score
9
Letters
3
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
Associated with or participating in an activity, especially one of a questionable nature.
Example Sentences
- "It [slavery] has set the seal of a complicit, guilty silence upon the most orthodox pulpits and the saintliest tongues, […]"
- ""I confess," and the Englishman turned with a near complicit grin to Hamo, "I have certain vulgar tastes myself.""
- "Khan's sale of nuclear secrets and a complicit Pakistani government have made the world a ticking time bomb."
- "I have been critical of the RDG in the past for merely being a cypher for government announcements, but the failure of its members to make a stand on this issue and not be complicit in the Government's subterfuge is a shocking indictment of their failure to protect the industry."
Etymology
Most likely a back-formation from complicity, under the influence of words such as explicit, as though the suffix -ity were composed of -it (from Latin -itus) and -y.
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /kəmˈplɪs.ɪt/
- British English: /kəmˈplɪs.ɪt/
Inflected Forms
more complicit (comparative)
most complicit (superlative)