Thesaurus results for SCHEMES

schemes 1 of 2

noun

plural of scheme

as in ruses

a clever often underhanded means to achieve an end an e-mail scheme to trick unwary Internet users into disclosing passwords and financial information

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as in plots

a secret plan for accomplishing evil or unlawful ends a scheme to kidnap the president's daughter

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as in plans

a method worked out in advance for achieving some objective a scheme to upgrade the city's mass transit system

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schemes

2 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of scheme

as in intrigues

to engage in a secret plan to accomplish evil or unlawful ends the town inspector had schemed to overlook the contractor's code violations in exchange for a substantial bribe

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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 schemes

Noun

The Eagles are shifting away from their usual vertical, power run-blocking schemes to a wide-zone blocking scheme, while making plays less predictable by making run and pass plays look similar. — Brooks Kubena, New York Times, 8 Sep. 2026 In an ideal world Jeff Hafley’s game plans, schemes and play calls put the Dolphins in position to win games if the execution is sharp and the turnover are kept to a minimum. — Omar Kelly, Miami Herald, 8 Sep. 2026 France’s system, developed over decades, uses levies on cinema admissions that are collected by the National Film Board and re-injected into local production, alongside other schemes supporting independent producers, filmmakers and theaters. — Elsa Keslassy, Variety, 7 Sep. 2026 Other dynamic pricing schemes often use details such as your location, purchase history, and more to decide on which offers to give you. — James Peckham, PC Magazine, 7 Sep. 2026 If Taron Johnson and the secondary hold up against complex passing schemes, the unit should take a noticeable leap in efficiency. — David Troy Outkick, FOXNews.com, 6 Sep. 2026 There are more similarities than differences in Norvell’s and Lashlee’s schemes. — Bob Ferrante, The Orlando Sentinel, 6 Sep. 2026 Professional patient Argan indulges his every ailment, and schemes to marry off his daughter to a doctor to save on medical bills. — Greg Evans, Deadline, 5 Sep. 2026 So, too, do the antics of his estate manager (a buoyant Sam Adegoke), always concocting money-making schemes, and the wide-eyed adoration of the girl next door (Amelia Mason, deftly balancing naïveté with seductiveness), who wants to save him. — Rhoda Feng, New Yorker, 4 Sep. 2026

Verb

Marty, who was loosely based on real-life ping-pong legend Marty Reisman, schemes his way to competitions across the globe and hustles for pocket cash. — Randall Colburn, Entertainment Weekly, 9 Mar. 2026 Joy Randolph, follows a desperate gallery owner (Portman) who schemes to sell a dead man as art at Art Basel in Miami. — Erin Clack, PEOPLE, 26 Jan. 2026 Chalamet embodies Marty’s arrant showmanship with an evident joy in performance, exactly as Marty himself schemes not only shamelessly but jubilantly. — Richard Brody, New Yorker, 19 Dec. 2025 Matthew quickly schemes his way into Oliver’s orbit after that first performance, impressing and rankling the group of lackeys in his entourage at the same time. — Eric Torres, Pitchfork, 27 Aug. 2025

Recent Examples of Synonyms for schemes

Noun

There’s a delightful secret history of Hollywood directors whose ruses and stratagems bought them an unusual amount of leeway with their scripts.

— Richard Brody, New Yorker, 5 Aug. 2026
Even before pro-party AI ruses were possible, the Chinese government and its supporters flooded social media with pro-China propaganda and vicious attacks on critics.

— Michael Schuman, The Atlantic, 7 July 2026

Definition of ruses

Noun

Other rules, such as removing shoes and the 3-1-1 liquids policy, were implemented in response to later, separate terrorist plots.

— Kathleen Wong, USA Today, 3 Sep. 2026
Food plots are great, agricultural crops are good too, but during the right window in mid-fall, nothing draws in deer like acorns.

— Colin Moore, Outdoor Life, 2 Sep. 2026

Definition of plots

Noun

As a result, plans need to be made to deal with the logistics of several celestial vehicles taxiing and docking at the port and eventually at a permanent moon settlement.

— Devika Rao, TheWeek, 15 Sep. 2026
Pricing plans, rebate information and outage status were flagged as the most consistently difficult content for customers to navigate across every utility digital channel studied.

— Amber Mullaney, Forbes.com, 15 Sep. 2026

Definition of plans

Noun

Based on the novel by Daniel Pinkwater, Lizard Music follows a boy (Leber) left to his own devices who stumbles upon a secret late-night broadcast of lizards playing otherworldly music — a hidden door to the extraordinary then swinging open.

— Matt Grobar, Deadline, 14 Sep. 2026
Anyone using their phone during the set will be escorted out of the venue, and if needed, devices can be unlocked and used in special areas of each venue.

— Jaeden Pinder, Rolling Stone, 14 Sep. 2026

Definition of devices

Noun

But like many aspects of 21st-century American life, the vaccines became a partisan point of debate as often false anti-vaccine conspiracies spread to millions of people.

— Joseph Konig, PEOPLE, 25 Aug. 2026
The result is a sprawling theory combining paranoid interpretations of current events with historical conspiracies.

— Matthew N. Hannah, The Conversation, 25 Aug. 2026

Definition of conspiracies

Noun

Xiaomi, Li Auto and Geely are also among EV makers making moves into the robotics sector, although their strategies differ.

— Jenny Lee,Evelyn Cheng, CNBC, 9 Sep. 2026
The researchers plan to develop better in-vitro culture strategies to extend muscle life, as well as neuron-like flexible thin-film electrodes that can distribute electrical stimulation more uniformly across the tissue.

— New Atlas, New Atlas, 8 Sep. 2026

Definition of strategies

Noun

There’s an almost comically blasé way in which the performers — who are used to such spectacles — go about their work an hour before thousands of audience members will gasp and clap at the same tricks.

— Jenelle Riley, Los Angeles Times, 14 Sep. 2026
But when there isn’t a live event, the venue has been developing a slate of original programming that can run all day and night, with a few 4D tricks up its sleeve too.

— Hilary Lewis, HollywoodReporter, 14 Sep. 2026

Definition of tricks

Noun

For more than a century, college football has inspired the building of vast concrete-and-steel on-campus cathedrals — only for the names on the blueprints to become historical footnotes.

— Ira Gorawara, New York Times, 5 Sep. 2026
The genes serve as blueprints for making proteins that drive brain development, but researchers lacked visibility into how those proteins do the work.

— Pien Huang, NPR, 4 Sep. 2026

Definition of blueprints

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schemers

schemes

schemes (out)

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Style

“Schemes.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/schemes. Accessed 17 Sep. 2026.

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Synonyms of schemes

noun

verb

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