collusion

English

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /kəˈluːʒən/
Audio (US) (file)

Noun

collusion (countable and uncountable, plural collusions)

A private, cooperative agreement or arrangement between groups that otherwise maintain the pretense of competition, contention or non-cooperation.
- 2012, Joseph E. Harrington, A theory of tacit collusion‎:
  Furthermore, there is good reason for firms to try to collude without express communication, and thus find themselves dealing with less than full mutual understanding.
A private agreement for a fraudulent or illegal purpose; conspiracy.
- c. 1515–1516, published 1568, John Skelton, Againſt venemous tongues enpoyſoned with ſclaunder and falſe detractions &c.:
  Such tunges unhappy hath made great diviſion
  In realmes, in cities, by ſuche fals abuſion;
  Of fals fickil tunges ſuche cloked colluſion
  Hath brought nobil princes to extreme confuſion.
- 2013 June 7, Gary Younge, “Hypocrisy lies at heart of Manning prosecution”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 188, number 26, page 18:
  The dispatches […] also exposed the blatant discrepancy between the west's professed values and actual foreign policies. Having lectured the Arab world about democracy for years, its collusion in suppressing freedom was undeniable as protesters were met by weaponry and tear gas made in the west, employed by a military trained by westerners.
- 2021 March 25, Koichi Nakano, “The Olympics Are On! But Why?”, in The New York Times‎, →ISSN:
  So why is Japan going ahead with the Olympics, against the public’s objections, while the pandemic is still a major public health concern? The answer is familiar: collusion among the elites.
- 2023 August 30, Megan K. Stack, Rob Stothard, “He Was Shot 14 Times at the Dinner Table. His Children Want to Know if Britain Ordered the Hit.”, in The New York Times‎, →ISSN:
  Once derided as a nationalist conspiracy theory, collusion is by now an undeniable fact. The scale, however, remains unknown.