in cahoots
Plotting together secretly
In cahoots means secretly cooperating or conspiring, usually for questionable purposes: The mayor was in cahoots with developers.
The phrase implies a covert partnership, often with shady overtones.
You're rarely in cahoots with someone for noble reasons—the word suggests scheming or self-dealing.
Cahoots appears almost exclusively in this phrase.
- colludingSecretly cooperating for deception
- conspiringPlotting secretly with others
- teamedJoined with others
- working togetherActing in concert
- hand in gloveIntimately associated
allied · complicity · back room deal · smoke filled room · behind closed doors · thick as thieves · cabalistic · affiliated · inside job · in league · partners in crime · hidden agenda · co-conspirator · abettor · conjunct · federate · collaborating · in bed with
in cahootssolo
Performance by one
unaffiliated · on one's own · going it alone · lone wolf · flying solo
in cahootsat odds
In a state of conflict
at loggerheads · adversarial · opposed · in conflict · enemies
in cahootsabove board
Honest and unconcealed
on the level · on the up and up · aboveboard · transparent · open