1. A secret joint conspiracy or plotting to do something; usually, wrong or illegal: "He was involved in the connivance of his brother's shoplifting with the understanding that he would share the things that were stolen."
2. Tacit encouragement (expressed without being said directly) or an agreement to doing some kind of wrongdoing; unspoken encouragement of or consent (without participation) to wrongdoing by someone else.
3. Pretended ignorance or a secret encouragement of wrongdoing.