as in calculating
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as in scheming
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as in planning
to engage in a secret plan to accomplish evil or unlawful ends
mobsters were caught plotting to take over the company
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Recent Examples of plotting
Niela Orr, Vulture, 13 Jan. 2026
Death Proof is the closest Tarantino has come to making a horror movie, combining the structure, plotting, and slow build-up of a classical slasher with his signature patter while painting his kill scenes as thrilling action set pieces.
—Katie Rife, Entertainment Weekly, 12 Jan. 2026
Unfortunately, through its first four episodes, The Copenhagen Test is also a wonderful sleep aid — a whole lot of leaden dialogue and convoluted plotting, with very little intensity or momentum.
—Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 26 Dec. 2025
This plotting started immediately after the election, the investigators found.
—Julia Vargas Jones, CNN Money, 25 Nov. 2025
Klipstein then asked how her guest knew about the alleged plotting.
—Zoey Lyttle, PEOPLE, 4 Nov. 2025
The beauty of this affair wasn’t in the plotting, but in the performance of yearning given by Edie Falco, who made the series every bit as much hers as Gandolfini’s in these moments.
—John Ortved, Vogue, 29 Oct. 2025
That’s 16 days of public silence and private plotting — 16 days of preparing for a case management conference and pondering motions and strategizing for the discovery process and delving into every facet of this year-long case that has no end in sight.
—Jon Wilner, San Diego Union-Tribune, 16 Oct. 2025
Saman Shafiq, USA Today, 8 Jan. 2026
But Izzy Johnston is plotting a way for her Warriors to rise above all those squads.
—Kyle Newman, Denver Post, 8 Jan. 2026
Pamela Smart, who is serving life in prison for plotting to kill her husband with her teenage student and lover in 1990, filed a new request for a hearing Tuesday.
—Colleen Cronin, Boston Herald, 7 Jan. 2026
That ban, however, hasn’t stopped national Republican arms from plotting efforts to support a redistricting effort in the state.
—Alexandra Glorioso, Miami Herald, 7 Jan. 2026
Bea incredulously finds out that Christy has been involved in a treasure hunt for years now, believing that there is a million dollars hidden somewhere in the state, planning and plotting her methods of finding it, and Christy is finally setting her plan in motion.
—Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 6 Jan. 2026
But moderate House Republicans are plotting potential compromise measures with moderates in the Senate.
—Emily Brooks, The Hill, 4 Jan. 2026
Curves plotting model performance against size have begun flattening out.
—James Somers, New Yorker, 3 Nov. 2025
In that case, prosecutors charged Ammar Abdulmajid-Mohamed Said, 19, of Melvindale, with plotting an attack on the military base on behalf of the Islamic State, or ISIS.
—Tresa Baldas, Freep.com, 3 Nov. 2025
Noun
But sometimes this hammy hilarity can feel like a substitute for thoughtful plotting and considerate character development.
—Niela Orr, Vulture, 13 Jan. 2026
Death Proof is the closest Tarantino has come to making a horror movie, combining the structure, plotting, and slow build-up of a classical slasher with his signature patter while painting his kill scenes as thrilling action set pieces.
—Katie Rife, Entertainment Weekly, 12 Jan. 2026
Unfortunately, through its first four episodes, The Copenhagen Test is also a wonderful sleep aid — a whole lot of leaden dialogue and convoluted plotting, with very little intensity or momentum.
—Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 26 Dec. 2025
This plotting started immediately after the election, the investigators found.
—Julia Vargas Jones, CNN Money, 25 Nov. 2025
Klipstein then asked how her guest knew about the alleged plotting.
—Zoey Lyttle, PEOPLE, 4 Nov. 2025
The beauty of this affair wasn’t in the plotting, but in the performance of yearning given by Edie Falco, who made the series every bit as much hers as Gandolfini’s in these moments.
—John Ortved, Vogue, 29 Oct. 2025
That’s 16 days of public silence and private plotting — 16 days of preparing for a case management conference and pondering motions and strategizing for the discovery process and delving into every facet of this year-long case that has no end in sight.
—Jon Wilner, San Diego Union-Tribune, 16 Oct. 2025
Verb
Pine works swiftly to gather information on Roper's deal and even forms an alliance with his boss's girlfriend Jed (Elizabeth Debicki) who is plotting her own escape.
—Saman Shafiq, USA Today, 8 Jan. 2026
But Izzy Johnston is plotting a way for her Warriors to rise above all those squads.
—Kyle Newman, Denver Post, 8 Jan. 2026
Pamela Smart, who is serving life in prison for plotting to kill her husband with her teenage student and lover in 1990, filed a new request for a hearing Tuesday.
—Colleen Cronin, Boston Herald, 7 Jan. 2026
That ban, however, hasn’t stopped national Republican arms from plotting efforts to support a redistricting effort in the state.
—Alexandra Glorioso, Miami Herald, 7 Jan. 2026
Bea incredulously finds out that Christy has been involved in a treasure hunt for years now, believing that there is a million dollars hidden somewhere in the state, planning and plotting her methods of finding it, and Christy is finally setting her plan in motion.
—Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 6 Jan. 2026
But moderate House Republicans are plotting potential compromise measures with moderates in the Senate.
—Emily Brooks, The Hill, 4 Jan. 2026
Curves plotting model performance against size have begun flattening out.
—James Somers, New Yorker, 3 Nov. 2025
In that case, prosecutors charged Ammar Abdulmajid-Mohamed Said, 19, of Melvindale, with plotting an attack on the military base on behalf of the Islamic State, or ISIS.
—Tresa Baldas, Freep.com, 3 Nov. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for plotting
Adjective
-
Even Alex becomes too entangled in her students’ dealings and ends up suffering at the hands of one of the more calculating boys.—
Rebekah Frumkin,
Washington Post,
6 Sep. 2019
-
And experts believe that his intuitive style could throw the more calculating Caruana, who has faced time crunches already in this championship, off-balance.—
Joshua Robinson,
WSJ,
27 Nov. 2018
Noun
-
This is exactly the kind of partisan scheming that a pair of constitutional amendments passed in 2010 were supposed to prevent.—
Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board,
The Orlando Sentinel,
8 Jan. 2026
-
Once again, a defense lawyer attempted to paint the women as lying, scheming seductresses.—
S. C. Cornell,
New Yorker,
5 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
While the first missions to space would not occur for several years, scientists began planning on how humans could reach orbit, fly to the Moon, and beyond.—
Matthew S Williams,
Interesting Engineering,
10 Jan. 2026
-
Whether we’re headed to the gym, lounging at home, or planning your next trips, Lululemon is our go-to destination for a workout wardrobe that doubles as casual and travel wear.—
Caley Sturgill,
Southern Living,
9 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
Danish media reported that at least three people with connections to Trump carried out covert influence operations in Greenland.—
Emma Burrows,
Fortune,
10 Jan. 2026
-
Federal statute mandates the president inform a bipartisan group of eight, high-ranking members of Congress prior to particularly covert operations.—
Max Zahn,
ABC News,
7 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
Kojima improves the balance of combat, stealth and exploration while telling a more intriguing story as Sam deals with tragedy and finds redemption in his mission.—
Gieson Cacho,
Mercury News,
29 Dec. 2025
-
As next-generation wireless communications increasingly focus on the transmission channel, the ability to include sensing, communication, and power harvesting into a single hardware platform is expected to impact fields ranging from the Internet of Things to intelligent stealth.—
Aman Tripathi,
Interesting Engineering,
28 Dec. 2025
Adjective
-
But Prayer is not your humdrum, surreptitious post–Cowboy Carter cash-out.—
Craig Jenkins,
Vulture,
2 Dec. 2025
-
Jamian Juliano-Villani’s friezelike painting Women, 2024, offers a surreptitious turn on Marcel Duchamp and Eadweard Muybridge by featuring an ostensibly female figure with too many (and ambiguously gendered) appendages.—
Tim Griffin,
Artforum,
1 Dec. 2025
Noun
-
Cruz also pressed his Democratic colleagues to join a bipartisan request for the DOJ to turn over the evidentiary basis for the subpoenas, arguing transparency was necessary to assess whether the secrecy orders were justified.—
Kaelan Deese,
The Washington Examiner,
8 Jan. 2026
-
For years, Maryland’s sprawling nonprofit sector has operated behind a veil of secrecy that state leaders praise publicly but struggle to explain under scrutiny.—
Gary Collins,
Baltimore Sun,
8 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
To create this unique cinematic experience, Stewart and Poots endured rigorous trial-and-error shoots, tough training days in clandestine New York pool houses.—
Destiny Jackson,
Deadline,
13 Jan. 2026
-
Saimar Rivas, Armas’s partner and a longtime civil-rights activist, told me that he had been taken to a clandestine site run by the SEBIN, Venezuela’s intelligence agency.—
Stephania Taladrid,
New Yorker,
7 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Plotting.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/plotting. Accessed 18 Jan. 2026.
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