What Does 'Complicit' Mean? SNL Skit Makes Word Most Popular Search On Merriam-Webster, Dictionary Says

Ivanka Trump’s eponymous perfume is a top-seller on Amazon.com, but “Saturday Night Live” gave her a new eau de parfum—and its name was Merriam-Webster’s most-searched word Sunday.

The dictionary defines the adjective “complicit,” the name of the faux first daughter’s fragrance, as “helping to commit a crime or do wrong in some way.”

In the skit, SNL’s March 11 host, actress Scarlett Johansson, portrayed Trump as she waltzed through a lavish party in a shimmering dress, flicking her bleached blonde hair over her shoulders as onlookers' stares gradually change from awe to disgust and, in the case of several of the show’s female cast members, mocking.

“Complicit—a feminist, an advocate, a champion for women. But, like, how?” a narrator intones. Then, referring to leaked audio of the president bragging about his ability to sexually assault women without consequences, the narrator adds, “She’s loyal, devoted, but probably should’ve bounced after the whole ‘Access Hollywood’ bust thing. Oh well.”

While she curated a brand of empowerment for female executives and may not be a denier of climate science, Ivanka Trump has long been criticized as an enabler of her father’s misogyny and brash rejection of political norms. The first daughter met with her father, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and female business leaders in mid-February to launch the United States-Canada Council for the Advancement of Women Entrepreneurs and Business Leaders. She was credited with the creation of her father’s child care and maternity leave policy proposals during the fall presidential campaign.

But Ivanka Trump, who left her executive position at her father’s company to “take time to settle our three young children into their new home and schools” as her husband took a job within the new administration, faced criticism for limiting the scope of her women’s rights advocacy to wealthy women in heterosexual marriages who can easily afford child care and the time to balance traditional motherhood tasks with their working lives.

Her income-tax deduction plan for child care, for example, likely wouldn’t help the 45 percent of American families who don’t earn enough to pay income taxes. When a Cosmopolitan reporter asked in September about her feelings toward her father’s derogatory comments on women, she grew defensive and lashed out at the interviewer.

“Complicit,” the SNL narrator said. “The fragrance for the woman who could stop all this, but won’t.”