collusion

noun

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

   “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.”

2. (countable, uncountable)A private agreement for a fraudulent or illegal purpose; conspiracy.

   “Such tunges unhappy hath made great diviſion In realmes, in cities, by ſuche fals abuſion; Of fals fickil tunges ſuche cloked colluſion”

   “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.”

   “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.”

   “Once derided as a nationalist conspiracy theory, collusion is by now an undeniable fact. The scale, however, remains unknown.”