1
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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2
as in plots
a secret plan for accomplishing evil or unlawful ends
a scheme to kidnap the president's daughter
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3
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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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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Recent Examples of schemes
Caroline Cummings, CBS News, 17 Mar. 2026
In schemes orchestrated with Iza, Coberg arranged a fake drug arrest and stood guard while a victim was extorted.
—Brittny Mejia, Los Angeles Times, 16 Mar. 2026
Pirro’s comments followed the sentencing of Christina Chapman, an Arizona resident who became the first American citizen convicted in the job schemes.
—Lisa Cavazuti, NBC news, 15 Mar. 2026
Following pilot schemes in several US cities last year, Uber has launched a women-only service across the country.
—Irenie Forshaw, TheWeek, 13 Mar. 2026
Because college football players can’t unionize and bargain rules, anti-tampering and other prohibitions aren’t exempt from antitrust scrutiny and can be challenged as unreasonable restraints on trade and price-fixing schemes.
—Michael McCann, Sportico.com, 12 Mar. 2026
On October 23, the FBI announced the arrests of more than 30 people in a pair of interlocking gambling schemes.
—Mckay Coppins, The Atlantic, 12 Mar. 2026
Rangy safeties with good eyes can thrive in Fangio-style schemes, and Thompson fits that mold.
—Daniel Popper, New York Times, 9 Mar. 2026
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
Noun
The kickbacks — financial incentives by providers to get people signed up for services — are a fixture in some of the fraud schemes plaguing state programs.
—Caroline Cummings, CBS News, 17 Mar. 2026
In schemes orchestrated with Iza, Coberg arranged a fake drug arrest and stood guard while a victim was extorted.
—Brittny Mejia, Los Angeles Times, 16 Mar. 2026
Pirro’s comments followed the sentencing of Christina Chapman, an Arizona resident who became the first American citizen convicted in the job schemes.
—Lisa Cavazuti, NBC news, 15 Mar. 2026
Following pilot schemes in several US cities last year, Uber has launched a women-only service across the country.
—Irenie Forshaw, TheWeek, 13 Mar. 2026
Because college football players can’t unionize and bargain rules, anti-tampering and other prohibitions aren’t exempt from antitrust scrutiny and can be challenged as unreasonable restraints on trade and price-fixing schemes.
—Michael McCann, Sportico.com, 12 Mar. 2026
On October 23, the FBI announced the arrests of more than 30 people in a pair of interlocking gambling schemes.
—Mckay Coppins, The Atlantic, 12 Mar. 2026
Rangy safeties with good eyes can thrive in Fangio-style schemes, and Thompson fits that mold.
—Daniel Popper, New York Times, 9 Mar. 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
-
The New York Colored American reported that some offers of short-term work for Black men — moving livestock to or from Kentucky, for example — were ruses that ended with kidnappings.—
Equal Justice Initiative,
USA Today,
6 Nov. 2025
-
Many suspect a spam call and don't pick up the phone, leading foundation staff to sometimes devise ruses.—
Kelly Meyerhofer,
jsonline.com,
8 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
For more than six decades, communist Cuba thwarted every destabilizing measure Washington aimed its way — assassination plots, a trade embargo, sabotage, travel bans and, most notoriously, the Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961, when Fidel Castro’s revolution was still young and the Cold War raging.—
Kate Linthicum,
Los Angeles Times,
16 Mar. 2026
-
Gavin is a true leader, guiding a group of high school technicians through tasks such as hanging light plots, patching, and programming the light board.—
Heide Janssen,
Oc Register,
15 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
The United States was informed about Israel's plans to strike the South Pars natural gas field but did not take part in it, according to a person familiar with the matter.—
DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE STAFF FROM WIRE REPORTS,
Arkansas Online,
19 Mar. 2026
-
The Abu Dhabi firm has operations in roughly 30 countries, with subsidiaries in the UK and India, as well as data center development plans in places like France, Italy, and Kazakhstan.—
Kelsey Warner,
semafor.com,
19 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Indeed, Hamilton says that in her experience, most runners, when left to their own devices, do all of their easy runs at a faster-than-necessary pace.—
Jenny McCoy,
SELF,
20 Mar. 2026
-
Later, O’Brien touted a fake company tasked with reformatting movies for smaller and smaller handheld devices, but the joke missed the mark.—
Peter Tonguette,
The Washington Examiner,
20 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
This is not manufactured, like the DeSantis administration’s obsession with bogus fluoride studies or vaccine conspiracies.—
Sun Sentinel Editorial Board,
Sun Sentinel,
12 Mar. 2026
-
Online, every day, we are inundated with evidence of emergencies, crimes, and conspiracies that seem to elude comprehension.—
Kyle Chayka,
New Yorker,
11 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Taleblu underscored how the importance of the Strait of Hormuz has only escalated since the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s because of the Iranian regime’s asymmetric military and maritime strategies, including fast-attack water craft, drones, and mines.—
Naomi Lim,
The Washington Examiner,
19 Mar. 2026
-
Arnott is the founder and chairman of Research Affiliates, a firm that oversees strategies for nearly $200 billion index funds and ETFs for the likes of Charles Schwab and Invesco.—
Shawn Tully,
Fortune,
19 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Though the Bird Cage has been outfitted with modern lighting capable of new theme park tricks and projections, the rig is hidden among curtains designed to re-create the look of the original tent.—
Todd Martens,
Los Angeles Times,
17 Mar. 2026
-
Raúl had taught us dribbling tricks and how to hit a header from a corner shot.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
16 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
The buyer is someone who’s hacking the luxury housing market by working with a broker and quietly joined a developer’s private waitlist before the blueprints were even drawn.—
Sydney Lake,
Fortune,
14 Mar. 2026
-
All of the engineering and ecological blueprints were bound in an impenetrably dense document known as the Yellow Book.—
Michael Adno,
Rolling Stone,
3 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Schemes.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/schemes. Accessed 22 Mar. 2026.
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