He is a known 'associate' of criminals. [=he is known to associate with criminals; people know that he works with or spends time with criminals]
She was promoted from assistant editor to 'associate' editor and may soon be promoted to senior editor.
He was 'associated' [='connected, identified'] 'with' a group of radicals in the government.
(..) I just gotta backdoor the phone system. Guy in the chair. HAPPY : - Uh... - Mr. Happy, it's Ned. I'm an associate of Peter Parker. Got something very important to tell you... Damn. Hey, Ned, how we coming on with those headlights? Round knob to the left (..)2017 Spider-Man: Homecoming