in league
Conspiring with others
In league means allied or conspiring together, usually with negative connotations suggesting secret collaboration for questionable purposes: The mayor was in league with the developers.
The phrase implies a partnership that others might not approve of or that works against someone's interests: They suspected the referee was in league with the opposing team.
Fraudulent secret cooperation
- schemingCrafty and calculating
- plottingDevising a secret plan
- cabalScheming political faction
- connivingSecretly planning wrongdoing
intrigue · complicity · covert · clandestine · secretive · underhanded · treachery · machination
Temporary alliance for action
- confederationAutonomous entities united loosely
- federationUnion of semi-autonomous states
- unionJoining into one
- pactFormal agreement between parties
treaty · bloc · consortium · entente · accord · compact · affiliation · alignment
Shared business arrangement
- teamworkJoint effort toward shared aim
- cooperationJoint action toward shared aims
- coordinationOrganized cooperative movement
- joint ventureCollaborative business arrangement
united · combined effort · synergy · partners · allied · affiliated · working together · mutual
collusion
Fraudulent secret cooperation
conniving · intrigue · complicity · covert · clandestine · secretive · underhanded · treachery · machination · subterfuge
coalition
Temporary alliance for action
- confederationAutonomous entities united loosely
- federationUnion of semi-autonomous states
- unionJoining into one
pact · treaty · bloc · consortium · entente · accord · compact · affiliation · alignment · association
partnership
Shared business arrangement
- teamworkJoint effort toward shared aim
- cooperationJoint action toward shared aims
- coordinationOrganized cooperative movement
joint venture · united · combined effort · synergy · partners · allied · affiliated · working together · mutual · shared goals
in leagueat odds
In a state of conflict
adversaries · at war · enemies · opposed · in conflict
in leaguein the dark
Uninformed about something
uninvolved · out of the loop · oblivious · excluded · kept in the dark
in leagueindependent
Free from external control
unaffiliated · unconnected · unallied · going it alone · on one's own
league, alliance, leagues, leagued, confederate, confederacy, leaguers, leaguer