conspirator

UK/kənˈspɪɹətə/US/kənˈspɪɹətɚ/

nounB2Very rare — outside the 30,000 commonest English words, so you will meet it in writing rather than in speechneutral

Other forms: conspirators

A conspirator is one of the people secretly plotting something together. Not the lone criminal — the ones who met in a back room and agreed a plan.

The word needs company by definition: nobody is a conspirator alone. History supplies the famous ones and courts supply the rest, since conspiracy is a crime in its own right and each person charged with it is a conspirator. There is a gentler use too — a fellow conspirator can be someone in on a harmless secret, like a surprise party. The adjective conspiratorial describes the manner rather than the crime: a conspiratorial whisper, a conspiratorial glance across the table.

Definitions of conspirator

1nounconspiratorOne of a group secretly planning something unlawful or harmful.B2
“The conspirators met in a rented room above a shop.”
synonyms: plotter, accomplice

Where it comes from

From Anglo-Norman - conspiratour.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in A Man Called Ove

First appears in chapter 29 of A Man Called Ove.

Practise this word

conspirator in the wild

In the English language, a conspirator is a party to a conspiracy.
Conspirator
In a criminal conspiracy, each alleged party is a "co-conspirator".
Conspirator
Powell Jr., Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States Lewis Powell (conspirator), conspirator with John Wilkes Booth Lewis Powell (MP), Welsh politician Lewis W.
Lewis Powell
Vice-Admiral Sir Henry Dudley was an English Admiral, soldier, diplomat, and conspirator of the Tudor period.
Henry Dudley (conspirator)
Co-conspirator David Herold was to guide Powell to Seward's home, then help him escape, but fled before Powell was able to exit the Seward home.
Lewis Powell (conspirator)

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

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