Synonyms of machination

machination

noun

ˌma-kə-ˈnā-shən 

as in conspiracy

a secret plan for accomplishing evil or unlawful ends

incredibly complicated machinations to assassinate the president that inevitably failed

Synonyms & Similar Words

• conspiracy
• scheme
• plot
• intrigue
• strategy
• design
• subterfuge
• manipulation
• trickery
• stratagem
• maneuver
• cabal
• counterplot
• contrivance
• collusion
• racket
• confederacy
• frame-up
• system
• connivance
• complicity
• conniving
• dodge
• program
• counterconspiracy
• cover-up
• artifice
• draft
• ground plan
• gimmick
• trick
• conspiration
• ring
• game

Synonym Chooser

How does the noun machination differ from other similar words?

Some common synonyms of machination are cabal, conspiracy, intrigue, and plot. While all these words mean "a plan secretly devised to accomplish an evil or treacherous end," machination implies a contriving of annoyances, injuries, or evils by indirect means.

the machinations of a party boss

Where would cabal be a reasonable alternative to machination?

Although the words cabal and machination have much in common, cabal typically applies to political intrigue involving persons of some eminence.

a cabal among powerful senators

In what contexts can conspiracy take the place of machination?

While the synonyms conspiracy and machination are close in meaning, conspiracy implies a secret agreement among several people usually involving treason or great treachery.

a conspiracy to fix prices

When might intrigue be a better fit than machination?

While in some cases nearly identical to machination, intrigue suggests secret underhanded maneuvering in an atmosphere of duplicity.

backstairs intrigue

When is plot a more appropriate choice than machination?

The words plot and machination can be used in similar contexts, but plot implies careful foresight in planning a complex scheme.

an assassination plot

Example Sentences

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