Standard Lemma guide

collusion

noun · 4 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /kəˈluːʒən/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: K AH0 L UW1 ZH AH0 N Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A private, cooperative agreement or arrangement between groups that otherwise maintain the pretense of competition, contention or non-cooperation.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A private agreement for a fraudulent or illegal purpose; conspiracy.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

secret agreement

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: agreement, arrangement

4

noun

Meaning 4

agreement on a secret plot

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: connivance

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: agreement

Narrower terms: cahoot

History

Etymology

Dated from the 14th century C.E. as Middle English collusioun, collusion; from Old French collusion, from Latin collusio (“act of colluding”).

Across languages

Translations

50 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Hindi: दुरभिसंधि (durbhisandhi) — between competitors
  • Arabic: تَوَاطُؤ (tawāṭuʔ) — conspiracy
  • Azerbaijani: sözləşmə — conspiracy
  • Azerbaijani: saziş — conspiracy
  • Azerbaijani: sövdələşmə — conspiracy
  • Bulgarian: та́йно споразуме́ние (tájno sporazuménie) — conspiracy
  • Bulgarian: конспира́ция (konspirácija) — conspiracy
  • Bulgarian: съглаша́телство (sǎglašátelstvo) — conspiracy
  • Catalan: col·lusió — conspiracy
  • Chinese Mandarin: 共謀 /共谋 (gòngmóu) — conspiracy
  • Chinese Mandarin: 陰謀 /阴谋 (yīnmóu) — conspiracy
  • Czech: koluze — conspiracy
  • Dutch: collusie — conspiracy
  • Dutch: samenzwering — conspiracy
  • Dutch: samenspanning — conspiracy
  • Esperanto: koluzio — conspiracy
  • Finnish: salaliitto — conspiracy
  • French: collusion — conspiracy
  • Georgian: შეთქმულება (šetkmuleba) — conspiracy
  • German: geheimes Einverständnis — conspiracy
  • German: Verschwörung — conspiracy
  • German: Kollusion — conspiracy
  • German: Geheimabsprache — conspiracy
  • Greek: συνωμοσία (synomosía) — conspiracy
  • Greek: συμπαιγνία (sympaignía) — conspiracy
  • Greek: συνεννόηση (synennóisi) — conspiracy
  • Hebrew: קנוניה (knunyá) — conspiracy
  • Hindi: मिलीभगत (milībhgat) — conspiracy
  • Hungarian: összeesküvés — conspiracy
  • Ido: koluziono — conspiracy
  • Indonesian: kolusi — conspiracy
  • Japanese: 共謀 (kyōbō) — conspiracy
  • Korean: 공모 (gongmo) — conspiracy
  • Latin: collusio — conspiracy
  • Malay: subahat — conspiracy
  • Middle English: collusioun — conspiracy
  • Persian: سازش (sâzeš) — conspiracy
  • Polish: zmowa — conspiracy
  • Portuguese: colusão — conspiracy
  • Romanian: coluziune — conspiracy
  • Romanian: complicitate — conspiracy
  • Russian: та́йное соглаше́ние (tájnoje soglašénije) — conspiracy
  • Russian: сго́вор (sgóvor) — conspiracy
  • Russian: за́говор (zágovor) — conspiracy
  • Spanish: colusión — conspiracy
  • Spanish: contubernio — conspiracy
  • Spanish: complot — conspiracy
  • Swedish: maskopi — conspiracy
  • Ukrainian: таємна умова (tajemna umova) — conspiracy
  • Ukrainian: таємна домовленість (tajemna domovlenistʹ) — conspiracy
Real reading context

collusion in complete knowledge articles