as in intrigue
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Recent Examples of counterplot
Don Aucoin, BostonGlobe.com, 31 July 2019
There’s something comforting about the normalcy of plot and counterplot, action and intrigue.
—Mike Hale, New York Times, 13 Jan. 2017
Noun
Bit by bit, the castle at Elsinore (broodingly rendered by scenic designer Lee Savage) turns into a stage for life-and-death plots and counterplots.
—Don Aucoin, BostonGlobe.com, 31 July 2019
There’s something comforting about the normalcy of plot and counterplot, action and intrigue.
—Mike Hale, New York Times, 13 Jan. 2017
Recent Examples of Synonyms for counterplot
Noun
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At 63 herself, Foster intrigues as well.—
Daniel D'Addario,
Variety,
7 Jan. 2026
-
Further down the ballot, Board of Review intrigue continues.—
A.D. Quig,
Chicago Tribune,
7 Jan. 2026
Verb
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But in wrapping up a six-month investigation last month, independent counsel Cho’s team concluded that Yoon plotted for over a year to impose martial law to eliminate his political rivals and monopolize power.—
Hyung-Jin Kim,
Los Angeles Times,
13 Jan. 2026
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Just last month, police charged a 17-year-old in Indiana linked to TCC who was allegedly plotting to carry out an attack.—
Lauren Fichten,
CBS News,
12 Jan. 2026
Noun
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The series’ focus on the machinations of asset management and wealth hoarding — banks, investment funds, start-ups, the stock market, all the ways people with resources find ways to deny them to others — remains firmly in place.—
Roxana Hadadi,
Vulture,
7 Jan. 2026
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Trump, as is his want, is just doing the normal thing without the usual white niceties that come with imperialist machinations.—
Elie Mystal,
Washington Post,
7 Jan. 2026
Verb
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After scheming his way through training by an ever-growing web of lies that included a cancer treatment, Seth tried to redeem himself by taking a bullet to save Nolan’s (Nathan Fillion) life at the cost of his lower leg, which was shattered and later amputated.—
Nellie Andreeva,
Deadline,
20 Jan. 2026
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Or simply just changing the play-calling and possibly scheme (not Ejiro Evero)?—
Mike Kaye
January 20,
Charlotte Observer,
20 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Smiley, working with his colleague Peter Guillam (Benedict Cumberbatch) narrows his inquiry to five men, including Bill Haydon (Colin Firth) and Roy Bland (Ciarán Hinds), using clever subterfuge and maneuvering to get the truth.—
David Faris,
TheWeek,
15 Jan. 2026
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Political pressure and subterfuge to extend American influence, perhaps combined with a bid to buy the island, seem more plausible but are unlikely to work.—
Comfort Ero,
Time,
9 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Also, didn’t Trump just pardon Juan Orlando Hernández, the former Honduran President, who had been sentenced to forty-five years in federal prison for conspiring to import four hundred tons of cocaine into the United States?—
Daniel Immerwahr,
New Yorker,
10 Jan. 2026
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But focusing on integrated schools—especially in the many communities where the demographics conspire against it—can detract from ensuring that the least well-off students receive a quality education.—
Ray Domanico,
Washington Post,
9 Jan. 2026
Noun
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In the show, Lower, 40, plays Helly Riggs/Helena Eagan, who tries to uncover the company's web of conspiracies with her coworkers.—
Liza Esquibias,
PEOPLE,
12 Jan. 2026
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In their charging documents, prosecutors allege Maduro, his wife and his son, Nicolás Maduro Guerra, engaged in a cocaine-trafficking conspiracy and partnered with cartels designated as terrorist groups.—
Richard Johnson,
New York Daily News,
11 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Director Ellenstein had the aha moment earlier this decade of contriving a work about Eisenhower and the accomplished playwright and Orange County native, Richard Hellesen, took on the task of writing it.—
Christopher Smith,
Oc Register,
20 Jan. 2026
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In one of the most deal-ridden and far too often contrived places on the globe, Steny was straightforward, smart, wise, direct, honest on the real odds about anything and everything, and blessed with a sense of humor that, if saintly in purpose, was devilishly clever in delivery.—
Reader Commentary,
Baltimore Sun,
11 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Counterplot.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/counterplot. Accessed 28 Jan. 2026.
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