COOKS (UP) Synonyms: 40 Similar and Opposite Words

cooks (up)

verb

present tense third-person singular of cook (up)

as in devises

to create or think of by clever use of the imagination cooked up a scheme to get out of doing the dishes

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for cooks (up)

Verb

The British-American actress plays Hannah, a music student who devises a fake dating scheme with hockey star Garrett (Belmont Cameli) to catch the attention of her crush, Justin (Josh Heuston).

— Catherine Santino, PEOPLE, 16 July 2026
Six men are eaten by the Cyclops before Odysseus devises a plan to escape from the cave they are trapped in.

— Gitanjali Roy, Encyclopedia Britannica, 12 June 2026

Definition of devises

Verb

The new film continues the story of the conclusion of Holland’s third Spider-Man film, where Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) concocts a spell to make everyone forget Peter as a way to save the multiverse.

— Tim Lammers, Forbes.com, 31 July 2026
Driver’s character concocts a way for the duo to start an environmental business together as Russians, largely the mafia, are involved in recalibrating a canal in New York City.

— Anthony D'Alessandro, Deadline, 17 May 2026

Definition of concocts

Verb

Through artifacts spanning 5,000 years, the exhibition constructs an extraordinary history of fashion and the body—material, carnal, vulnerable, seductive, devotional, fragmented—and its transpositions into various expressive languages.

— Judith Clark, Vogue, 24 Sep. 2026
Hur judiciously constructs scene after scene that pulls and pushes the various probes closer to and further from the mysterious truth, which feels at once obscured and hidden in plain sight.

— Siddhant Adlakha, Variety, 20 Sep. 2026

Definition of constructs

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.

Browse Nearby Words

cookstoves

cooks (up)

cook (up)

See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

Style

“Cooks (up).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cooks%20%28up%29. Accessed 27 Sep. 2026.

Copy Citation

Synonyms of cooks (up)

verb

Example Sentences

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

bellwether

Popular in Grammar & Usage

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

More Commonly Mispronounced Words

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Popular in Wordplay

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Back to School Vocabulary

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Words of the Week - Sept. 25

Popular

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Games & Quizzes