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
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of masterminds
Nora Heston Tarte, Mercury News, 18 May 2026
These are two elite teams led by masterminds on opposite sides of the ball in Kyle Shanahan and Mike Macdonald.
—Saad Yousuf, New York Times, 15 May 2026
The pair come off less as cybercriminal masterminds than as galumphing galoots—that is to say, a pair of bumbling oafs who thought that asking AI how to cover their tracks was going to keep them out of federal prison.
—Nate Anderson, ArsTechnica, 14 May 2026
No criminal masterminds, the brothers had police wanting a chat within days.
—Matt Thompson, SPIN, 11 May 2026
Some of the masterminds behind NBC‘s Saturday Night Live Season 51 brought the laughs all the way from Studio 8H to the DGA Theater to break down the process behind keeping the iconic sketch comedy engine running after more than five decades for Deadline Contenders TV.
—Katie Campione, Deadline, 25 Apr. 2026
The honorary degrees come their way after the Duffer Brothers achieved global success for being the masterminds behind Netflix’s hit horror franchise Stranger Things.
—Chris Gardner, HollywoodReporter, 23 Apr. 2026
One of the most notable is being the masterminds of the dozen-plus concert G3 tours that began in 1996 and most recently took place in 2024.
—George Varga, San Diego Union-Tribune, 3 Apr. 2026
Klendathu's legions of arachnid drones and plasma-blasting giant beetles are all under the control of a species of giant arthropods that have somehow evolved into strategic masterminds.
—Richard Edwards, Space.com, 2 Apr. 2026
Steven Thrash, Entertainment Weekly, 25 Oct. 2025
Noun
The Bungalow Kitchen comes from masterminds Michael Mina and Brent Bolthouse.
—Nora Heston Tarte, Mercury News, 18 May 2026
These are two elite teams led by masterminds on opposite sides of the ball in Kyle Shanahan and Mike Macdonald.
—Saad Yousuf, New York Times, 15 May 2026
The pair come off less as cybercriminal masterminds than as galumphing galoots—that is to say, a pair of bumbling oafs who thought that asking AI how to cover their tracks was going to keep them out of federal prison.
—Nate Anderson, ArsTechnica, 14 May 2026
No criminal masterminds, the brothers had police wanting a chat within days.
—Matt Thompson, SPIN, 11 May 2026
Some of the masterminds behind NBC‘s Saturday Night Live Season 51 brought the laughs all the way from Studio 8H to the DGA Theater to break down the process behind keeping the iconic sketch comedy engine running after more than five decades for Deadline Contenders TV.
—Katie Campione, Deadline, 25 Apr. 2026
The honorary degrees come their way after the Duffer Brothers achieved global success for being the masterminds behind Netflix’s hit horror franchise Stranger Things.
—Chris Gardner, HollywoodReporter, 23 Apr. 2026
One of the most notable is being the masterminds of the dozen-plus concert G3 tours that began in 1996 and most recently took place in 2024.
—George Varga, San Diego Union-Tribune, 3 Apr. 2026
Klendathu's legions of arachnid drones and plasma-blasting giant beetles are all under the control of a species of giant arthropods that have somehow evolved into strategic masterminds.
—Richard Edwards, Space.com, 2 Apr. 2026
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
-
At the same time, fencing is also touting is status as an Ivy League favorite, a discipline that has historically appealed to artists and egghead-y types including engineers, architects, finance and technical wizards, as well as artists.—
Cynthia Littleton,
Variety,
28 May 2026
-
Visitors are not just stepping inside a historic church, but into a building still being completed by later generations of architects, craftspeople and engineers.—
David Nikel,
Forbes.com,
27 May 2026
Verb
-
Our enterprising Gravedigger, a true woman of science, engineers a lizard elixir and regenerates the finger into a long tentacle that eventually demands a body.—
Katie Walsh,
Los Angeles Times,
27 Mar. 2026
-
Setup is seamless thanks to AI Sonic Auto Room Calibration, which engineers the audio to your specific space.—
Juhi Wadia,
PC Magazine,
19 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
Goldman here plots the earnings-revisions trend for 2027 among AI-infrastructure plays, energy companies, the overall S & P 500 and the rest of the S & P outside of AI and energy.—
Michael Santoli,
CNBC,
19 May 2026
-
While the story is fundamentally the same as the original production — man discovers wife is having an affair, man then plots for his wife’s murder, man then must evade the cops — Hatcher brings the story to the 21st century in many ways.—
Amy Reyes
May 14,
Miami Herald,
14 May 2026
Verb
-
What Senate Bill 3496 would create isn’t a one-time savings event but a durable, compounding mechanism for relief, a pipeline that expands every year as Medicare negotiates more drugs and Illinois extends those savings to everyone, not just seniors.—
Chicago Tribune,
Chicago Tribune,
27 May 2026
-
The cost of the resolution phase, when the company negotiates with the IRS on your behalf, can also be a flat fee or a percentage of your total tax debt (typically 10% to 15%).—
John Csiszar,
CNBC,
22 May 2026
Verb
-
Crystal’s fluid staging, full of agile and vibrant design choices, smoothly maneuvers the action.—
Theater Critic,
Los Angeles Times,
20 May 2026
-
Master maneuvers examiners score highest, such as properly changing lanes, parallel parking and three-point turns.—
Don Sweeney
April 28,
Sacbee.com,
28 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Her husband manipulates her, her best friend hates her, her sister derides her; her entire existence is thin and precarious.—
Naomi Fry,
New Yorker,
23 May 2026
-
Researchers from Doshisha University in Japan have found that the bat does not merely survive this sensory overload, but also actively manipulates its environment to overcome the clutter and locate its prey.—
Mrigakshi Dixit,
Interesting Engineering,
19 May 2026
Verb
-
In Bilt’s model, Kerr said, a member books through Resy or OpenTable, the system automatically arranges a Lyft to the restaurant, payment processes through Toast at the table, and the loyalty points post — without anyone coordinating the chain.—
Catherina Gioino,
Fortune,
11 May 2026
-
Next, Butac arranges a bunch of the beans on two trays and roasts them for a specific amount of time before separating the shells from the beans and then running the bean fragments, also known as nibs, through a mill.—
Ari Daniel,
NPR,
10 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Masterminds.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/masterminds. Accessed 3 Jun. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
