as in negotiated
to plan out usually with subtle skill or care
he was charged with masterminding a plan to redecorate the suite of offices without seriously disrupting business operations
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Recent Examples of masterminded
O’Neill masterminded Nike’s pivot away from wholesale, a move that ended badly when retailers started carrying all of Nike’s competitors instead, and oversaw its women’s business, which never matched its men’s line.
—
Shelly Banjo, semafor.com, 23 Apr. 2026
Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer has masterminded the charter rewrite, promoting it as a way to make county government more transparent and accountable to the public.
—Lucas Robinson, San Diego Union-Tribune, 22 Apr. 2026
Prosecutors say Robert Sabiron Rubillar and Liezyl Rubillar, the chief executive officer and chief financial officer of Legal Systems Billing Solutions, masterminded the scheme.
—Hannah Fry, Los Angeles Times, 9 Apr. 2026
Sixty-five years ago, my grandfather masterminded a robbery at a historic Los Angeles estate.
—Jennifer Cannon, Vanity Fair, 7 Apr. 2026
Its Scandinavian design was masterminded by a Swiss architect, and while the angles may be precise and dramatic, the furnishings are unabashedly hygge, with sheepskins, soft throws, and wood-burning fireplaces throughout to fend off the coastal damp.
—Ashley Baker, Air Mail, 4 Apr. 2026
After reluctantly agreeing to be a temporary adviser, Jobs took over as CEO and masterminded an innovation factory that churned out the iPod, the iPhone and the iPad in a decade-long burst of feverish creativity.
—ABC News, 31 Mar. 2026
Court records show Wamuigah participated in a business email compromise scheme masterminded by Okechuckwu Valentine Osuji of Nigeria.
—Staff Report, Hartford Courant, 29 Mar. 2026
As the story goes, fresh off university and broke in 1996, Ralph Anderl, alongside friends Philipp Haffmans and Harald Gottschling, masterminded the screwless invention, decided to apply it to stainless-steel eyewear and wore some prototype pairs to a gallery event in Berlin.
—Martino Carrera, Footwear News, 20 Mar. 2026
Shelly Banjo, semafor.com, 23 Apr. 2026
Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer has masterminded the charter rewrite, promoting it as a way to make county government more transparent and accountable to the public.
—Lucas Robinson, San Diego Union-Tribune, 22 Apr. 2026
Prosecutors say Robert Sabiron Rubillar and Liezyl Rubillar, the chief executive officer and chief financial officer of Legal Systems Billing Solutions, masterminded the scheme.
—Hannah Fry, Los Angeles Times, 9 Apr. 2026
Sixty-five years ago, my grandfather masterminded a robbery at a historic Los Angeles estate.
—Jennifer Cannon, Vanity Fair, 7 Apr. 2026
Its Scandinavian design was masterminded by a Swiss architect, and while the angles may be precise and dramatic, the furnishings are unabashedly hygge, with sheepskins, soft throws, and wood-burning fireplaces throughout to fend off the coastal damp.
—Ashley Baker, Air Mail, 4 Apr. 2026
After reluctantly agreeing to be a temporary adviser, Jobs took over as CEO and masterminded an innovation factory that churned out the iPod, the iPhone and the iPad in a decade-long burst of feverish creativity.
—ABC News, 31 Mar. 2026
Court records show Wamuigah participated in a business email compromise scheme masterminded by Okechuckwu Valentine Osuji of Nigeria.
—Staff Report, Hartford Courant, 29 Mar. 2026
As the story goes, fresh off university and broke in 1996, Ralph Anderl, alongside friends Philipp Haffmans and Harald Gottschling, masterminded the screwless invention, decided to apply it to stainless-steel eyewear and wore some prototype pairs to a gallery event in Berlin.
—Martino Carrera, Footwear News, 20 Mar. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for masterminded
Verb
-
The deal was negotiated by Ben Kim, Head of Development and Acquisitions, and Addie Booth, Manager of Acquisitions, at Electric Entertainment, and Robert Benun and Mark Gill on behalf of the film.—
Zac Ntim,
Deadline,
29 Apr. 2026
-
The deal was negotiated by Koehler for Shudder with Isadora Johnson for Cinetic on behalf of the filmmakers.—
Brent Lang,
Variety,
29 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Heizer specifically engineered it so that future humans, scavenging for scrap in a postapocalyptic scenario, would be forced to turn back from his monument empty-handed.—
Olivia Kan-Sperling,
Artforum,
2 May 2026
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Structural systems governability determines how easily governance can be built, whether workflows decompose naturally into discrete, measurable, audit-ready steps, or deliver value through fluid judgment that must be engineered into structure.—
Jeffrey Sonnenfeld,
Fortune,
2 May 2026
Verb
-
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Association of Educators vice president and art teacher Rae LeGrone stood with a clipboard, alongside Erin DeMund, a teacher at Oaklawn Language Academy who had arranged a similar, though smaller, demonstration a week earlier in Charlotte.—
Rebecca Noel,
Charlotte Observer,
2 May 2026
-
Access to private tours of the museums can be arranged, as well as private transportation around the islands.—
Lale Arikoglu,
Condé Nast Traveler,
2 May 2026
Verb
-
Authorities allege on July 21, 1993, Solis and two co-conspirators plotted a robbery of Guerrero, a narcotics supplier, at his Bronx apartment.—
Julia Bonavita,
FOXNews.com,
23 Apr. 2026
-
Authorities say the teen carefully plotted the shooting at his Barrow County high school, including allegedly leaving a notebook with handwritten instructions detailing the steps to prepare for the violence and a diagram of his classroom.—
Dan Raby,
CBS News,
17 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Gas prices can be manipulated by war, the market or the discretion of how much oil companies want to refine.—
Kaitlyn Schallhorn,
Oc Register,
4 May 2026
-
And getting back to the Jewish donors who supposedly manipulated Ferguson’s efforts to block mid-cycle congressional districting.—
Howard Libit,
Baltimore Sun,
3 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Masterminded.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/masterminded. Accessed 5 May. 2026.
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