勾结

• Pinyin: gōu jié
• Hanzi breakdown: 勾 = 厶 + 勹 (curved, secretive); 结 = 纟(thread/silk) + 吉 (auspicious/tied) — to bind together with thread

Meaning

To collude; to conspire secretly. To join forces with someone in a covert and illicit manner, typically to deceive or harm others.

Strongly negative in connotation. Used in legal, political, and journalistic contexts to describe secret and illegal cooperation — e.g., between criminals, corrupt officials, or hostile foreign entities. Fixed collocations include 内外勾结 (collusion between insiders and outsiders) and 相互勾结 (mutual collusion). Never used in a neutral or positive sense.

Examples

1. 调查显示，多名政府官员与不法商人长期相互勾结，从中牟取巨额利益。 The investigation showed that several government officials had long colluded with illegal businessmen, raking in huge profits.
2. 法庭认定被告与竞争对手的内部人员勾结，蓄意泄露商业机密。 The court found that the defendant colluded with insiders at a competitor to deliberately leak trade secrets.
3. 该团伙内外勾结，利用快递渠道大规模走私违禁品，最终被警方一网打尽。 The gang colluded with people inside and outside the system, using delivery channels to smuggle contraband on a large scale, and was ultimately taken down by the police in a single sweep.

Usage Guide

Context: law, politics, journalism, crime

Tone: critical/negative

Do Say

• 两名嫌疑人早在案发前六个月便已开始秘密勾结，策划实施这起金融诈骗。(The two suspects had secretly begun colluding as early as six months before the crime, plotting to carry out this financial fraud.)
• 相关部门发现该公司与境外势力勾结，正在依法展开调查。(Relevant authorities have discovered that the company is colluding with foreign forces and are conducting an investigation in accordance with the law.)

Don't Say

• 将'勾结'用于一般的合作或联合 — 勾结 carries a strong criminal/illicit implication; for legitimate partnership use 合作, 联合, or 协作 instead

Origin & History

勾 (to hook; to pull in; to entangle) + 结 (to tie; to form a bond). Together: to covertly tie together — implying an illicit alliance.

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal