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Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

conspiracy theory en · NOUN

Pronunciation

  • /kɘnˈspɘɹɘsiː ˌθiəɹiː/ (New-Zealand)
  • /- ˌθiːɘɹiː/ (New-Zealand)
  • (US) audio
  • /kənˈspɪɹəsiː ˌθɪəɹiː/ (Australia)
  • /kənˈspɪɹəsi ˌθi.əɹi/ (General-American)
  • /- ˌθiːəɹi/ (Received-Pronunciation)
  • /- ˌθɪɹi/ (General-American)
  • /kənˈspɪɹəsi ˌθɪəɹi/ (Received-Pronunciation)
  • /- ˌθiːəɹiː/ (Australia)

Meanings

  1. (derogatory) Hypothetical speculation that is commonly considered untrue or outlandish.
    • “So, like I’m Rock Hudson? I’m not sure that’s the answer.” “Ah,” Lola smiles knowingly, “that’s all just a conspiracy theory. He enjoyed the ladies too.” 2007, Rick Huffman, Baxter Peanut, Xlibris Corporation, →ISBN, page 153:
    • "MAGA really wouldn't exist without conspiracy theories," said Eric Alterman, a journalism professor at Brooklyn College. "These theories don't require evidence. They're about stories people tell themselves to explain why things feel like they're going wrong in their lives." 2025 July 10, Jesus Mesa, “'We've Been Played': MAGA Faces Its Own Disappointment With Trump”, in Newsweek:
    • President Donald Trump’s presidential memorandum ordering an investigation of Joe Biden’s cognitive decline and his use of the autopen […] is also nonsensical fan service, amplifying addled MAGA conspiracy theories that contend, with a straight face, that Biden was really a robotic clone. 2025 June 7, Paul Rosenzweig, “The Biden Investigation Is a Path to Even Greater Lawlessness”, in The Atlantic:
    • QAnon, whose supporters also call it “The Storm" or “Great Awakening,” is a wide-ranging conspiracy theory that burst into greater visibility this summer, after supporters at a Trump rally wearing Q shirts prompted a rush of national media coverage about it. 2018 September 12, Abby Ohlheiser, “Reddit bans r/greatawakening, the main subreddit for QAnon conspiracy theorists”, in The Washington Post:
    • Conspiracy theories can be comforting, a way to get one’s bearings during rapid change in the culture or the economy, by providing narratives that bring order. 2021 April 29, Sabrina Tavernise, “Vaccine Skepticism Was Viewed as a Knowledge Problem. It’s Actually About Gut Beliefs.”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
    • Before discussing Norman Mailer's magisterial bid for dominance in this field, I want to use Richard Cordon to anticipate a common liberal objection - the objection that all this is 'conspiracy theory'. One has become used to this stolid, complacent return serve: so apparently grounded in reason and scepticism but so often naive and one-dimensional. 1993, Christopher Hitchens, For the Sake of Argument:
  2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see conspiracy, theory. A hypothesis that posits conspiracy or collusion.
    • But if a conspiracy theory is simply a theory that posits a conspiracy – a secret plan on the part of some group to influence events by partly secret means – […] 2007, Charles R. Pigden, “Conspiracy Theories and the Conventional Wisdom”, in Episteme: A Journal of Social Epistemology, volume 4, number 2, Edinburgh University Press, →DOI, page 222:
    • England has had quite enough to do in Europe and Asia, without going out of her way to meddle with America. It was a physical and moral impossibility that she could be carrying on a gigantic conspiracy against us. But our masses, having only a rough general knowledge of foreign affairs, and not unnaturally somewhat exaggerating the space which we occupy in the world's eye, do not appreciate the complications which rendered such a conspiracy impossible. They only look at the sudden right-about-face movement of the English Press and public, which is most readily accounted for on the conspiracy theory. 1863 January 11, Charles Astor Bristed, “English Insincerity on the Slavery Question. [Letter to the Editor]”, in The New York Times, page 3:
    • It is impossible, within the limits set for this Answer, to deal in any detail with the conspiracy theory which Dr. Boyd has put forward with such virulence for so many years and which apparently has been adopted by His Majesty's Government, at least in part. 1923, American and British Claims Arbitration: The Rio Grande Claim. Answer of the United States, Press of Byron S. Adams, The Conspiracy Theory, page 28:
    • If the zodiac was already developed in 2000 BC, it must have been kept as a cult secret or in some non-Babylonian country; this would be a 1500-year conspiracy theory. 1998, John H. Roger, “Origins of the ancient constellations: II. The Mediterranean traditions”, in Journal of the British Astronomy Association, volume 108, number 2, page 81, column 2:
    • Signalgate must have been deliberate; tariffs must be a grand plan to crash the dollar in the interest of one economic faction or another. The risk is that ever-more elaborate explanations for stupid actions end up wrongly according those actions a kind of intelligence – rather confirming the insight of the political scientist Robyn Marasco that “conspiracy theory is a love affair with power that poses as its critique”. 2025 October 2, William Davies, “A critique of pure stupidity: understanding Trump 2.0”, in The Guardian:
    • The main problem with any particular conspiracy theory is not that it's wrong, but that it's inarguable; not that it's false, but that it is unfalsifiable. 2020, Maj Dr. Ebenezer Kwakye Agyemang (Rtd), DECODING 2019 NOVEL CORONAVIRUS: Outbreak: Conspiracies: Impact, page 153:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
conspiracy theories Number=Plur lexicographic

Deriveds

conspiracy theorist · conspiracy fact · conspiritualist · conspiritualism · conspiracy theorize · conspirituality

Relateds

unfalsifiable · coincidence theory

Translations (82)

sh tèōrija zavjere (hypothetical speculation) · th ทฤษฎีสมรู้ร่วมคิด (hypothetical speculation) · uk тео́рія змо́ви (hypothetical speculation) · af samesweringsteorie (hypothetical speculation) · sh konspirativna tèōrija (hypothetical speculation) · ja 陰謀論 (hypothetical speculation) · sh tèōrija zavere (hypothetical speculation) · ms teori konspirasi (hypothetical speculation) · no konspirasjonsteori (hypothetical speculation) · ka შეთქმულების თეორია (hypothetical speculation) · hu konspirációs teória (hypothetical speculation) · sv konspirationsteori (hypothetical speculation) · sl teorija zarote (hypothetical speculation) · eu konspirazio-teoria (hypothetical speculation) · es conspiranoia (hypothetical speculation) · nl samenzweringstheorie (hypothetical speculation) · is samsæriskenning (hypothetical speculation) · la theoria conspirationis (hypothetical speculation) · fr théorie du complot (hypothetical speculation) · eu konspirazioaren teoria (hypothetical speculation) · eu teoria konspiratiboa (hypothetical speculation) · cs teorie spiknutí (hypothetical speculation) · sh тѐо̄рија уроте (hypothetical speculation) · kk қастандық теориясы (hypothetical speculation) · cmn 陰謀論 /阴谋论 (hypothetical speculation) · hu összeesküvés-elmélet (hypothetical speculation) · ru тео́рия за́говора (hypothetical speculation) · ar نَظَرِيَّة مُؤَامَرَة (hypothetical speculation) · mk теорија на заговор (hypothetical speculation) · sk konšpiračná teória (hypothetical speculation) · nb konspirasjonsteori (hypothetical speculation) · cs konspirační teorie (hypothetical speculation) · ja 陰謀説 (hypothetical speculation) · vi thuyết âm mưu (hypothetical speculation) · hy դավադրության տեսություն (hypothetical speculation) · gl teoría da conspiración (hypothetical speculation) · eo konspira teorio (hypothetical speculation) · de Konspirationstheorie (hypothetical speculation) · sh конспиративна тѐо̄рија (hypothetical speculation) · ms teori persekongkolan (hypothetical speculation) · be тэо́рыя змо́вы (hypothetical speculation) · id teori konspirasi (hypothetical speculation) · bg конспирати́вна тео́рия (hypothetical speculation) · cs spiklenecká teorie (hypothetical speculation) · de Verschwörungstheorie (hypothetical speculation) · pl teoria spiskowa (hypothetical speculation) · ca teoria conspiràtoria (hypothetical speculation) · it teoria del complotto (hypothetical speculation) · fa-ira تِئوریِ تُوْطِئِه (hypothetical speculation) · fo svikaráð (hypothetical speculation) · ca teoria de la conspiració (hypothetical speculation) · da konspirationsteori (hypothetical speculation) · tr komplo teorisi (hypothetical speculation) · es teoría de la conspiración (hypothetical speculation) · fi salaliittoteoria (hypothetical speculation) · la theoria coniurationis (hypothetical speculation) · th ทฤษฎีสมคบคิด (hypothetical speculation) · el θεωρία συνωμοσίας (hypothetical speculation) · es teoría conspirativa (hypothetical speculation) · et konspiratsiooniteooria (hypothetical speculation) · mn хуйвалдааны онол (hypothetical speculation) · ro teorie a conspirației (hypothetical speculation) · sh tèōrija urote (hypothetical speculation) · ga teoiric chomhcheilge (hypothetical speculation) · bg тео́рия на конспира́цията (hypothetical speculation) · ru конспироло́гия (hypothetical speculation) · et vandenõuteooria (hypothetical speculation) · lv sazvērestības teorija (hypothetical speculation) · da sammensværgelsesteori (hypothetical speculation) · sh тѐо̄рија завјере (hypothetical speculation) · sh тѐо̄рија завере (hypothetical speculation) · uk конспірологічна теорія (hypothetical speculation) · pt teoria da conspiração (hypothetical speculation) · fo samansvørjingarástøði (hypothetical speculation) · bg тео́рия за за́говор (hypothetical speculation) · he תאוריית קשר (hypothetical speculation) · nl complottheorie (hypothetical speculation) · ro teorie conspirativă (hypothetical speculation) · af komplotteorie (hypothetical speculation) · hu konteó (hypothetical speculation) · lt sąmokslo teorija (hypothetical speculation) · ko 음모론 (hypothetical speculation)