1
as in to plot
to engage in a secret plan to accomplish evil or unlawful ends
a trio of courtiers who were discovered to be machinating against the queen
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
2
as in to negotiate
to plan out usually with subtle skill or care
the hackers machinated a way to steal credit numbers from the company's Web site
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of machinate
But Cleopatra, still machinating away in Alexandria, couldn’t handle the thought of Herod gaining any further traction in Antony’s affections.
—
Anne Thériault, Longreads, 18 Dec. 2019
Now a new scheme described by ProPublica and The Wall Street Journal involves families seemingly machinating to get an unfair leg up in paying for a coveted seat at a university.
—Adam Harris, The Atlantic, 30 July 2019
Anne Thériault, Longreads, 18 Dec. 2019
Now a new scheme described by ProPublica and The Wall Street Journal involves families seemingly machinating to get an unfair leg up in paying for a coveted seat at a university.
—Adam Harris, The Atlantic, 30 July 2019
Recent Examples of Synonyms for machinate
Verb
-
Those close to her say the focus has been less about plotting her next campaign and more about helping shape the Democratic Party's path forward.—
Nidia Cavazos,
CBS News,
1 May 2025
-
Mangione, accused of plotting and carrying out the murder of UnitedHealthCare CEO Brian Thompson on Dec. 4, 2024, has garnered a following after the fact.—
Theresa Braine,
New York Daily News,
1 May 2025
Verb
-
Juggling showings, negotiating offers, and hunting for your dream home within budget is an all-consuming task.—
Kristine Gill,
Better Homes & Gardens,
1 May 2025
-
The league’s roster rules are curated to maintain competitive parity, and include facets like salary caps, international slots and a hard limit on how many players can earn above the annual senior maximum salary (as negotiated with its players union in collective bargaining).—
Jeff Rueter,
New York Times,
1 May 2025
Verb
-
The imperialists never stop scheming against China.—
Nectar Gan,
CNN Money,
2 May 2025
-
Brick arrived at the hospital where Sonny was being treated just in time to save the mob boss' life, as an assassin posing as a nurse was scheming to take him out.—
Julia Moore,
People.com,
30 Apr. 2025
Verb
-
The book’s vivid digital art, collaged from her own photographs and manipulated in Photoshop, helped children connect with science and nature in new ways.—
Kaitlyn Gomez,
USA Today,
1 May 2025
-
Meaning, that European standards of living or dressing were never truly embraced or replicated but rather adopted and manipulated.—
Tiana Randall,
Forbes.com,
30 Apr. 2025
Verb
-
But the large open kitchen that takes up most of the room is the same—with cooks’ stations encircling a central vent that’s dramatically cantilevered, like the funnel of a cruise ship—as is the seating, much of it arranged around a sweeping U-shaped counter.—
Helen Rosner,
New Yorker,
4 May 2025
-
Anderson, through his license for use of Lee’s name and likeness, arranged for Lee to gift him personal items that were to be placed in the museum but were allegedly rerouted to Anderson’s businesses.—
Winston Cho,
HollywoodReporter,
2 May 2025
Verb
-
They are engineered through intentional, repeatable practices that rewire how people are seen, heard, and valued at every level of the system.—
Mary Hemphill, PhD,
Forbes.com,
1 May 2025
-
With a patent-pending method, Plenty has even engineered the pollination process by evenly distributing airflow across the strawberry flowers — no bees necessary.—
Sarah Sekula,
USA Today,
29 Apr. 2025
Verb
-
Everything about this — and the fact that Gene wants Henry to use the relationship to get himself a gun — feels fatally contrived, to the point that Mamet couldn’t even be bothered to fill it in.—
Owen Gleiberman,
Variety,
2 May 2025
-
This experiment could have gone wrong in any number of ways—by seeming contrived, by seeming disjointed, by imposing on its readers the irksome requirement of tracking which voice is saying what across two continents and the better part of a century.—
Kathryn Schulz,
New Yorker,
28 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Machinate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/machinate. Accessed 9 May. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share