as in schemes
a secret plan for accomplishing evil or unlawful ends
incredibly complicated machinations to assassinate the president that inevitably failed
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Recent Examples of machinations
There are different accounting machinations used to move money around and manipulate space.
—
Dan Sheldon, New York Times, 6 Apr. 2026
Concrete plans will be ironed out on Sunday (yes, Easter Sunday), one source with knowledge of the inner machinations tells THR.
—Tony Maglio, HollywoodReporter, 3 Apr. 2026
Amid myriad double crosses and revelations, the various plot machinations converge in satisfying ways.
—David Faris, TheWeek, 3 Apr. 2026
But Baldoni’s supporters have said that the texts show that Swift was much more involved in her friend’s behind-the-scenes machinations against Baldoni, as content creator Zak Peter said in January.
—Martha Ross, Mercury News, 3 Apr. 2026
The machinations behind the music industry often make for fascinating television, and that's the premise behind Japanese drama Dream Stage.
—K. Thor Jensen, PC Magazine, 3 Apr. 2026
For all of Erik Spoelstra’s lineup machinations, a constant from the Heat coach has been Mitchell as an every-game starter, something for the Heat that also only has been the case with Bam Adebayo and Andrew Wiggins.
—Ira Winderman, Sun Sentinel, 29 Mar. 2026
That stunted dynamic all puts the dramatic onus of the season on Jolyon’s and Louisa’s relationship, made impossible both by class and by Francis’s political machinations for her husband.
—Sarah Shachat, IndieWire, 23 Mar. 2026
As the 2010s went on, the machinations of reality shows became repetitive and transparent.
—Literary Hub, 18 Mar. 2026
Dan Sheldon, New York Times, 6 Apr. 2026
Concrete plans will be ironed out on Sunday (yes, Easter Sunday), one source with knowledge of the inner machinations tells THR.
—Tony Maglio, HollywoodReporter, 3 Apr. 2026
Amid myriad double crosses and revelations, the various plot machinations converge in satisfying ways.
—David Faris, TheWeek, 3 Apr. 2026
But Baldoni’s supporters have said that the texts show that Swift was much more involved in her friend’s behind-the-scenes machinations against Baldoni, as content creator Zak Peter said in January.
—Martha Ross, Mercury News, 3 Apr. 2026
The machinations behind the music industry often make for fascinating television, and that's the premise behind Japanese drama Dream Stage.
—K. Thor Jensen, PC Magazine, 3 Apr. 2026
For all of Erik Spoelstra’s lineup machinations, a constant from the Heat coach has been Mitchell as an every-game starter, something for the Heat that also only has been the case with Bam Adebayo and Andrew Wiggins.
—Ira Winderman, Sun Sentinel, 29 Mar. 2026
That stunted dynamic all puts the dramatic onus of the season on Jolyon’s and Louisa’s relationship, made impossible both by class and by Francis’s political machinations for her husband.
—Sarah Shachat, IndieWire, 23 Mar. 2026
As the 2010s went on, the machinations of reality shows became repetitive and transparent.
—Literary Hub, 18 Mar. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for machinations
Noun
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Mitchell said the Cavs’ offense has changed, a little, to incorporate Harden’s isolation dominance, but also said Harden has fit into their original schemes.—
Joe Vardon,
New York Times,
7 Apr. 2026
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Somewhere along the way, these schemes stopped rewarding loyalty and started exploiting it.—
Christopher Elliott,
USA Today,
5 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Prosecutors accused Peters of stealing a Mesa County employee's security badge to help a man gain access to the county's voter systems to prove false conspiracies about the validity of the 2020 election results.—
Karissa Waddick,
USA Today,
2 Apr. 2026
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There is obviously a lot more going on, so leave your conspiracies and guesses to yourselves.—
Jackson Thompson,
FOXNews.com,
2 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Multiple plots to oust Moïse The text messages point to multiple plans targeting Moïse before he was finally killed.—
Jacqueline Charles,
Miami Herald,
6 Apr. 2026
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This means the plots focus on the action, of which there is plenty.—
Mary Ann Grossmann,
Twin Cities,
5 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Plus the balcony is useful for intrigues and gossiping about the people below, as seen at Lady Danbury’s ball in season one of Bridgerton.—
Bethy Squires,
Vulture,
12 Mar. 2026
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Roshanara became Aurangzeb’s informant, keeping him apprised of court intrigues and politics.—
Gitanjali Roy,
Encyclopedia Britannica,
5 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Machinations.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/machinations. Accessed 10 Apr. 2026.
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