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
Zoey Lyttle, PEOPLE, 4 Nov. 2025
Farrell and Kidman are outstanding, even as Lanthimos' ritualistic plotting and direction keep them hemmed into their characters' rigid conceptions.
—Dennis Perkins, Entertainment Weekly, 31 Oct. 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
For almost the entire bloated two-hour run time, Black keeps his foot on the accelerator in the hope that audiences won’t notice the haphazard, barely logical plotting.
—David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 30 Sep. 2025
To be fair, most romance plotting is built on contrivances and guaranteed happily ever afters.
—Ben Rosenstock, Vulture, 17 Sep. 2025
The hyperactive plotting runs on hyperventilating prose.
—Book Marks
september 11, Literary Hub, 11 Sep. 2025
All of that plotting is happening in a separate room from the elaborate ball itself, which was filmed at boxer Evander Holyfield’s mansion in Atlanta.
—Emily Longeretta, Variety, 3 Sep. 2025
Literary Hub, 3 Nov. 2025
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
This man claims that Tamra was plotting this out with a friend of his.
—Brian Moylan, Vulture, 31 Oct. 2025
Multiple people who had been allegedly plotting a violent attack over the Halloween weekend were arrested Friday morning in Michigan, FBI Director Kash Patel said in a social media post.
—Eva Roytburg, Fortune, 31 Oct. 2025
Consider hobbies like learning a new language, joining a weekly book club, or plotting out your garden for next spring.
—Cindy Kuzma, SELF, 29 Oct. 2025
Monday was the first day of the rest of Neil Cole’s life — and the brand management pioneer is now plotting a comeback.
—Evan Clark, Footwear News, 27 Oct. 2025
So with Danny now plotting his relocation to Beantown and Maria still back home, what does that mean for the former NYPD partners?
—Brenton Blanchet, PEOPLE, 27 Oct. 2025
Noun
Klipstein then asked how her guest knew about the alleged plotting.
—Zoey Lyttle, PEOPLE, 4 Nov. 2025
Farrell and Kidman are outstanding, even as Lanthimos' ritualistic plotting and direction keep them hemmed into their characters' rigid conceptions.
—Dennis Perkins, Entertainment Weekly, 31 Oct. 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
For almost the entire bloated two-hour run time, Black keeps his foot on the accelerator in the hope that audiences won’t notice the haphazard, barely logical plotting.
—David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 30 Sep. 2025
To be fair, most romance plotting is built on contrivances and guaranteed happily ever afters.
—Ben Rosenstock, Vulture, 17 Sep. 2025
The hyperactive plotting runs on hyperventilating prose.
—Book Marks
september 11, Literary Hub, 11 Sep. 2025
All of that plotting is happening in a separate room from the elaborate ball itself, which was filmed at boxer Evander Holyfield’s mansion in Atlanta.
—Emily Longeretta, Variety, 3 Sep. 2025
Verb
Meanwhile, the Israeli settler movement is openly plotting a long-term return to Gaza, seeking to reverse the evacuation of 8,000 settlers from the Strip that happened twenty years ago.
—Literary Hub, 3 Nov. 2025
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
This man claims that Tamra was plotting this out with a friend of his.
—Brian Moylan, Vulture, 31 Oct. 2025
Multiple people who had been allegedly plotting a violent attack over the Halloween weekend were arrested Friday morning in Michigan, FBI Director Kash Patel said in a social media post.
—Eva Roytburg, Fortune, 31 Oct. 2025
Consider hobbies like learning a new language, joining a weekly book club, or plotting out your garden for next spring.
—Cindy Kuzma, SELF, 29 Oct. 2025
Monday was the first day of the rest of Neil Cole’s life — and the brand management pioneer is now plotting a comeback.
—Evan Clark, Footwear News, 27 Oct. 2025
So with Danny now plotting his relocation to Beantown and Maria still back home, what does that mean for the former NYPD partners?
—Brenton Blanchet, PEOPLE, 27 Oct. 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
-
The rapid advances of AI and the ceaseless scheming of cybercriminals and hackers make cyber startups one of the most dynamic and innovative sectors of the tech industry, Chahal says.—
Alexei Oreskovic,
Fortune,
30 Oct. 2025
-
In DaCosta’s film, Hedda’s scheme to stall Lovborg’s comeback is drawn out with more detailed scheming, including implicating Lovborg in a public humiliation of Professor Greenwood (Finbar Lynch), who is responsible for deciding the recipient of the professorship.—
Rory Doherty,
Time,
29 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
The next year, eleven journalists went on to form the White House Correspondents’ Association in response to rumors that the Congressional Standing Committee of Correspondents was planning on selecting which reporters were invited to presidential news conferences.—
JSTOR Daily,
JSTOR Daily,
7 Nov. 2025
-
They had been alerted that Running Fence was planning to enter the ocean despite having no permit.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
7 Nov. 2025
Adjective
-
However, his team quickly secured their covert support in the form of money and supplies.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
7 Nov. 2025
-
Trump has authorized the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to carry out covert operations in the country and has left the door firmly open to unspecified land operations.—
Ellie Cook,
MSNBC Newsweek,
5 Nov. 2025
Noun
-
The company has spent 18 months in stealth under the name M1, reaching $4 million in annual recurring revenue with more than 20,000 paying customers, half of whom open the app 14 times a day, six days a week.—
Beatrice Nolan,
Fortune,
11 Nov. 2025
-
Equipped with modern systems The submarine is equipped with modern sonar systems, torpedo launch capabilities, and low-stealth capabilities, according to reports.—
Prabhat Ranjan Mishra,
Interesting Engineering,
9 Nov. 2025
Adjective
-
Haeckel’s Italian trip was part of a surreptitious alternate life plan.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
28 Oct. 2025
-
The Trump administration intensified its scrutiny of Chinese nationals studying at U.S. universities in May following several instances of students allegedly engaging in surreptitious activity, including espionage.—
Rachel Wolf,
FOXNews.com,
9 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
The outcome could set a precedent for how far courts can go in easing logistical burdens on defendants in sensitive-information cases without compromising government secrecy.—
Robert Alexander,
MSNBC Newsweek,
5 Nov. 2025
-
Even in a strange story like this, some of the classic Cheney traits, such as secrecy, were on display.—
Don Gonyea,
NPR,
4 Nov. 2025
Adjective
-
The evil-doing in question is simple enough, at least for a franchise that has always been built around the existence of a clandestine organization of magicians (The Eye) who love using their skills to take down bad guys and quite literally share the wealth with their eager audiences.—
Kate Erbland,
IndieWire,
11 Nov. 2025
-
The 16-month plot to bribe Maduro’s chief pilot illustrates how Washington pairs clandestine operations with military power to destabilize the regime while projecting strategic pressure in the region.—
Amir Daftari,
MSNBC Newsweek,
29 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Plotting.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/plotting. Accessed 14 Nov. 2025.
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