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
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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
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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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
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Baiamonte also plotted unique calls for every Heat player.—
Dave Hyde,
Sun Sentinel,
4 Apr. 2026
-
One tells a story of an A-list actress, aided by some of the biggest celebrities in the world who include husband Ryan Reynolds and friend Taylor Swift, plotting to seize control of a director’s passion project.—
Winston Cho,
HollywoodReporter,
3 Apr. 2026
Verb
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At the time, Epstein was serving his 18-month sentence in the Palm Beach County stockade but was allowed to spend 12 hours a day, six days a week, in his office under a work-release program his attorneys had negotiated.—
Miami Herald,
Miami Herald,
8 Apr. 2026
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Spice levels are negotiated with shorthand, on a scale from one to five.—
Timothy DePeugh,
Charlotte Observer,
8 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Lobbyists and special interests are constantly scheming to defeat the will of the majority.—
Mary Nichols,
Mercury News,
8 Apr. 2026
-
Rick Pitino was scheming an after-timeout set against another all-time great head coach in Bill Self.—
Steven Louis Goldstein,
New York Times,
7 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Be careful not to let someone else manipulate you or use guilt or jealousy as a technique.—
Georgia Nicols,
Denver Post,
3 Apr. 2026
-
During this time, Duggar manipulated the victim’s underwear and grazed her genitals.—
Assistant Editor,
Los Angeles Times,
1 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Rx bars were fanned out on a silver platter, Lean Body shakes dotted the table, cups of Chobani were arranged in a pyramid.—
Sam Stone,
Bon Appetit Magazine,
9 Apr. 2026
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Hence the social contract on which proto-citizens situated behind the veil of ignorance would agree, arranges social and economic inequalities in such a manner as to make the worst off as well off as possible; economic policies would benefit the well-being of the least advantaged.—
George G. Szpiro,
Big Think,
9 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Those claims alleged that companies had engineered products to be more addictive; for example, by adding chemicals to speed and intensify nicotine delivery to the brain and to ease inhalation, so that smokers would become unable to quit.—
Jeannie Suk Gersen,
New Yorker,
9 Apr. 2026
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What was more of a challenge than engineering the chip itself was figuring out the details of actually making the chip project images and videos.—
IEEE Spectrum,
IEEE Spectrum,
9 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Her early death, after an illness that the father initially contrives to ignore then notices just in time to capture her desperation in a fine sketch, leaves Mimí utterly disoriented, yearning only to achieve a level of self-control and detachment that will spare him their tumultuous struggle.—
Tim Parks,
The New York Review of Books,
4 Apr. 2026
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New quarterback Anthony Colandrea brings a degree of swag that is not contrived.—
Mitch Sherman,
New York Times,
1 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Machinate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/machinate. Accessed 12 Apr. 2026.
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