as in architects
a person who designs and guides a plan or undertaking
the real mastermind behind the embezzlement scheme
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
as in engineers
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
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of masterminds
Eleanor Pringle, Fortune, 10 Oct. 2025
Once enlisted, recruits rarely meet the masterminds behind the crimes, instead receiving instructions through handlers online.
—Emma Bussey, FOXNews.com, 30 Sep. 2025
Mommy Pai’s, the latest venture from the masterminds behind Thai Diner and the late Uncle Boons, seems to follow this road map—on paper, at least.
—Helen Rosner, New Yorker, 28 Sep. 2025
Unlike high-cost advisors or one-size-fits-all masterminds, these tools offer flexibility to adapt as income changes and knowledge grows.
—Alejandra Rojas, Forbes.com, 16 Sep. 2025
All of the top brass attended this meeting, and everyone involved credited my partner Ricky and me as the masterminds behind the massive seizure.
—Martin Suarez, Rolling Stone, 13 Sep. 2025
The court also issued a warrant for Hamas official Mohammed Deif, who Israel said was one of the masterminds of the October 7 attack.
—Lex Harvey, CNN Money, 5 Sep. 2025
Owen suspects his soon-to-be in-laws (Pierce Brosnan and Ellen Barkin) as the masterminds behind the heist.
—James Mercadante, PEOPLE, 4 Sep. 2025
Crofton Acacia Pantry Organizers The design masterminds at ALDI (and by extension, Crofton and Kirkton House, their in-house brands) have mastered practical and pretty.
—Abigail Wilt, Southern Living, 25 Aug. 2025
Steven Thrash, Entertainment Weekly, 25 Oct. 2025
Noun
Israel views him and some others as terrorist masterminds who murdered Israeli civilians and has refused to release them in past exchanges.
—Eleanor Pringle, Fortune, 10 Oct. 2025
Once enlisted, recruits rarely meet the masterminds behind the crimes, instead receiving instructions through handlers online.
—Emma Bussey, FOXNews.com, 30 Sep. 2025
Mommy Pai’s, the latest venture from the masterminds behind Thai Diner and the late Uncle Boons, seems to follow this road map—on paper, at least.
—Helen Rosner, New Yorker, 28 Sep. 2025
Unlike high-cost advisors or one-size-fits-all masterminds, these tools offer flexibility to adapt as income changes and knowledge grows.
—Alejandra Rojas, Forbes.com, 16 Sep. 2025
All of the top brass attended this meeting, and everyone involved credited my partner Ricky and me as the masterminds behind the massive seizure.
—Martin Suarez, Rolling Stone, 13 Sep. 2025
The court also issued a warrant for Hamas official Mohammed Deif, who Israel said was one of the masterminds of the October 7 attack.
—Lex Harvey, CNN Money, 5 Sep. 2025
Owen suspects his soon-to-be in-laws (Pierce Brosnan and Ellen Barkin) as the masterminds behind the heist.
—James Mercadante, PEOPLE, 4 Sep. 2025
Crofton Acacia Pantry Organizers The design masterminds at ALDI (and by extension, Crofton and Kirkton House, their in-house brands) have mastered practical and pretty.
—Abigail Wilt, Southern Living, 25 Aug. 2025
Verb
The same studio that produced the Godzilla franchise, Toho, masterminds one of the most horrifying and disturbingly humorous psychedelic films to date.
—Steven Thrash, Entertainment Weekly, 25 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for masterminds
Noun
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The commission, which consists of seven members includes architects, planners and design experts, are appointed by the president and serve for a term of four years.—
Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy,
USA Today,
29 Oct. 2025
-
The chair position, now vacant, was held by Billie Tsien, one of the architects working on the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago.—
Elizabeth Blair,
NPR,
29 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
Big Tech now engineers a perpetual state of insecurity by creating relentless technological churn, rendering our skills and safety measures obsolete, only to then sell us the tools to catch up.—
Vivian Toh,
Forbes.com,
17 Sep. 2025
-
The study, conducted over several years, uses an approach that engineers artificial proteins (referred to as ion channels) in the brain that are activated by and bound to cocaine.—
Noah Lyons,
Mercury News,
5 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Kind Hearts and Coronets, the 1949 feature starring Alec Guinness, centers on the distant relative of a Duke, who plots to inherit the title by murdering eight heirs ahead of him in the line of succession.—
Jake Kanter,
Deadline,
30 Oct. 2025
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The chart below, from Renaissance Macro Research, plots the forward-three-month S & P 500 return for each date, based on decades of market history.—
Michael Santoli,
CNBC,
25 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
Rather than dictating rates to providers, Unity negotiates reimbursements tied to Medicare benchmarks.—
Jason Phillips,
USA Today,
21 Oct. 2025
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Faulí now runs a team of eleven architects, and also negotiates the politics of a project that has numerous stakeholders.—
D. T. Max,
New Yorker,
15 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Laura is able to shove Cherry hard enough to pry Daniel away from her and lock her in the room, but Cherry jumps out of the balcony, sacrificing her ankle, and maneuvers herself back into the house.—
Rafaela Bassili,
Vulture,
10 Sep. 2025
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In the next part of the scene, Gabriel maneuvers the plane into a roll, forcing Ethan, who is still clinging to the seatbelt, to slam into the side of the plane.—
EW.com,
EW.com,
19 Aug. 2025
Verb
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The Overlook Hotel is, yes, sinister and even demonic, taunting Jack Torrance with bizarre visions that Kubrick manipulates to create a mounting sense of dread.—
Sophie Gilbert,
The Atlantic,
30 Oct. 2025
-
This created a tunable metasurface, a structured layer that manipulates how waves interact with the surface, allowing the coating to absorb radar signals across various frequencies.—
Kapil Kajal,
Interesting Engineering,
24 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Financial compatibility is a necessity, but a partner who arranges things and therefore shows effort is vital.—
Essence,
Essence,
8 Oct. 2025
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An employee arranges a salad dressing display at an Amazon Fresh grocery store on December 12, 2024 in Federal Way, Washington.—
Annie Palmer,
CNBC,
3 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Masterminds.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/masterminds. Accessed 3 Nov. 2025.
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