--- title: Ivanka Trump: Merriam Webster Defines 'Complicit' for Her description: Merriam-Webster dictionary is helping Ivanka Trump define the word 'complicit' after she said that she doesn't know what it means canonical: https://time.com/4726025/dictionary-ivanka-trump-complicity-merriam-webster/ author: Alana Abramson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-04-04T22:59:40.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:54:29.035Z article:section: Politics og:title: Merriam-Webster Defined 'Complicit' for Ivanka Trump og:description: After she said she doesn't know what it means to be complicit og:url: https://time.com/4726025/dictionary-ivanka-trump-complicity-merriam-webster/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1eff08ca2fae8494/6988c15c0a4a2213989cd8cc/ivanka-gayle.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5272 og:image:height: 2966 og:image:alt: Donald Trump, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Ivanka Trump og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Merriam-Webster Defined 'Complicit' for Ivanka Trump twitter:description: After she said she doesn't know what it means to be complicit twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1eff08ca2fae8494/6988c15c0a4a2213989cd8cc/ivanka-gayle.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Merriam-Webster Defined _Complicit_ for Ivanka Trump > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Alana Abramson](https://time.com/author/alana-abramson/)  ## Alana Abramson Apr 4, 2017 10:59 PM UTC  Ivanka Trump speaks during a town hall with business leaders in the South Court Auditorium on the White House complex in Washington on April 4, 2017. Ivanka Trump speaks during a town hall with business leaders in the South Court Auditorium on the White House complex in Washington on April 4, 2017. Evan Vucci—AP  by [Alana Abramson](https://time.com/author/alana-abramson/)  ## Alana Abramson Apr 4, 2017 10:59 PM UTC Merriam-Webster dictionary is helping Ivanka Trump define the word _complicit_ after she said in an interview that she doesn’t know what it means. “‘Complicit’ is trending after Ivanka Trump told CBS ‘I don’t know what it means to be complicit,'” Merriam-Webster [tweeted](https://twitter.com/MerriamWebster/status/849378025191997440). The tweet included a link to the definition of the word, which is defined as “helping to commit a crime or do wrong in some way.” > [](https://twitter.com/MerriamWebster/status/849378025191997440) Ivanka Trump [told CBS News’ Gayle King](http://fortune.com/2017/04/04/ivanka-trump-cbs-interview-complicit-donald/) on Tuesday in her first interview since becoming a White House employee, “I don’t know what it means to be complicit, but I hope time will prove I have done a good job and that my father’s Administration is the success I know it will be.” In March, after a [_Saturday Night Live_ skit](http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/complicit/3483871?snl=1) of Scarlett Johansson playing Ivanka Trump touting a perfume called “Complicit” went viral, Merriam-Webster provided an in-depth explanation of the word’s [origins](https://www.merriam-webster.com/news-trend-watch/lookups-for-complicit-spiked-after-an-snl-sketch-used-the-word-to-describe-ivanka-trump-20170313). The dictionary [tweeted a link](https://twitter.com/MerriamWebster/status/849378597970345985) to that post Tuesday as well. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4726025/dictionary-ivanka-trump-complicity-merriam-webster/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4726025/dictionary-ivanka-trump-complicity-merriam-webster/"},"headline":"Merriam-Webster Defined Complicit for Ivanka Trump","datePublished":"2017-04-04T22:59:40.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:54:29.035Z","description":"After she said she doesn't know what it means to be complicit","url":"https://time.com/4726025/dictionary-ivanka-trump-complicity-merriam-webster/","keywords":["Ivanka Trump","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1eff08ca2fae8494/6988c15c0a4a2213989cd8cc/ivanka-gayle.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alana Abramson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alana-abramson/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1eff08ca2fae8494/6988c15c0a4a2213989cd8cc/ivanka-gayle.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Donald Trump, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Ivanka Trump","caption":"Donald Trump, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Ivanka Trump","creditText":"Evan Vucci—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4726025/dictionary-ivanka-trump-complicity-merriam-webster/","name":"Merriam-Webster Defined Complicit for Ivanka Trump"}}]}] ```