conniving
/kəˈnaɪvɪŋ/adjective, verb
conniving is spelled C-O-N-N-I-V-I-N-G: 9 letters and 3 syllables. It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 44,767th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, conniving means “That connives; conspiratorial” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in conniving?
| Letters | 9: C-O-N-N-I-V-I-N-G |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 2 million words; the 44,767th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is conniving?
Conniving appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 44,767th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce conniving?
- /kəˈnaɪvɪŋ/
Conniving has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Sumxr-conniving.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of conniving
- more conniving comparative
- most conniving superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does conniving mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
That connives; conspiratorial.
verb
- 1
present participle and gerund of connive
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Conniving in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense that connives:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | intrigant, hinterhältig, durchtrieben |
| Portuguese | conivente |
| Spanish | connivente, maniobrero, maquinador |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.