as in conspiracy
a secret plan for accomplishing evil or unlawful ends
incredibly complicated machinations to assassinate the president that inevitably failed
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Recent Examples of machination
Rather than deal with Nicky and Chloe and their lives in the aftermath of this catastrophe, the finale is all dry plot machinations, even scattering breadcrumbs for a repetitive second season despite Amazon billing the show as a limited series.
—
Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 28 May 2025
Tim Lammers However, in a series of events that unfolds like the machinations of a Rube Goldberg device, the tower soon explodes into flames and glass windows and floor shatter, sending patrons falling to their grisly deaths.
—Tim Lammers, Forbes.com, 15 May 2025
What Andor did differently was focus less on big names from Star Wars mythology and more on the actual machinations that occur when people are fed up with oppression, a narrative angle whose urgency connected with critics and audiences.
—Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 11 June 2025
Our family manor was on the outskirts of the King’s territory, far from most of the nobility and day-to-day machinations of court, its customs, and norms.
—Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 13 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for machination
Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 28 May 2025
Tim Lammers However, in a series of events that unfolds like the machinations of a Rube Goldberg device, the tower soon explodes into flames and glass windows and floor shatter, sending patrons falling to their grisly deaths.
—Tim Lammers, Forbes.com, 15 May 2025
What Andor did differently was focus less on big names from Star Wars mythology and more on the actual machinations that occur when people are fed up with oppression, a narrative angle whose urgency connected with critics and audiences.
—Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 11 June 2025
Our family manor was on the outskirts of the King’s territory, far from most of the nobility and day-to-day machinations of court, its customs, and norms.
—Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 13 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for machination
Recent Examples of Synonyms for machination
Noun
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And multiple members of the Trump Administration have promoted antisemitic conspiracies and associated with antisemitic extremists.—
Tom Dreisbach,
NPR,
30 June 2025
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Martinez Estrella remained convicted of second-degree murder, conspiracy and gang assault.—
John Annese,
New York Daily News,
29 June 2025
Noun
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Galeotti said these schemes can increase the national deficit and threaten the long-term viability of health care for seniors, individuals with disabilities and other citizens who need these programs.—
Jenna Sundel
Hollie Silverman,
MSNBC Newsweek,
30 June 2025
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And most recycling schemes are still small-scale, unable to keep up with the sheer volume of cheap and short-use clothing flowing through the system.—
Zoe Bayliss Wong,
Forbes.com,
30 June 2025
Noun
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The family at the heart of the story run a tourism business allowing Cappadocia to feature in a way that naturally chimes with the narrative, but the connection between landscape and plot runs far deeper, series director Murat Saraçoğlu says.—
Stewart Clarke,
Deadline,
1 July 2025
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The number of politically motivated attacks and plots against government agents in just the past five years is three times higher than those in the previous 25 years combined, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies.—
Mary Whitfill Roeloffs,
Forbes.com,
1 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Machination.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/machination. Accessed 9 Jul. 2025.
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