Synonyms of scheming

scheming 1 of 3

adjective

ˈskē-miŋ 

as in cunning

clever at attaining one's ends by indirect and often deceptive means

the novel is about an elderly man and his scheming son who is impatient to inherit the family fortune

Synonyms & Similar Words

• cunning
• cute
• slick
• subtle
• designing
• fraudulent
• devious
• wily
• dishonest
• treacherous
• deceptive
• crooked
• crafty
• sly
• shrewd
• guileful
• artful
• beguiling
• cagey
• tricky
• calculating
• foxy
• deceitful
• plotting
• shady
• dodgy
• unscrupulous
• covert
• slippery
• Machiavellian
• sneaky
• astute
• underhanded
• undercover
• shifty
• sharp
• clandestine
• knavish
• secret
• underhand
• facile
• serpentine
• oblique
• insincere
• glib
• hypocritical
• circular
• double-dealing
• insinuating
• surreptitious
• roundabout
• concealed
• furtive
• circuitous
• two-faced
• mealy
• stealthy
• backhanded
• mealymouthed
• smooth-tongued
• hugger-mugger
• left-handed

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• innocent
• ingenuous
• obvious
• guileless
• public
• artless
• real
• plain
• open
• direct
• simple
• outspoken
• sincere
• patent
• honest
• frank
• unconcealed
• straightforward
• forthright
• unaffected
• natural
• unsophisticated
• candid
• childlike
• simpleminded
• impressionable
• unpretentious
• undesigning
• aboveboard
• unpretending
• unvarnished
• unworldly
• trusting
• unforced
• plainspoken
• unstudied
• trustful

scheming

2 of 3

noun

as in plotting

Related Words

• plotting
• stealth
• secrecy
• deception
• dirty tricks
• double-dealing
• design
• dirty pool
• duplicity
• deceit
• treachery
• imposture
• humbuggery
• fakery
• hypocrisy
• quackery
• deviousness
• dissimulation
• cunning
• guile
• insincerity
• shrewdness
• dishonesty
• trickery
• deceptiveness
• subterfuge
• sneakiness
• crookedness
• underhandedness
• slyness
• shiftiness
• dupery
• craftiness
• deceitfulness
• wiliness
• skulduggery
• crookery
• chicanery
• gamesmanship
• wile
• slipperiness
• artfulness
• slickness
• oiliness
• jugglery
• legerdemain
• caginess
• shadiness
• guilefulness
• hanky-panky
• chicane
• jiggery-pokery
• artifice
• sharpness
• foxiness

Dissimilar Words

• sincerity
• ingenuousness
• artlessness
• guilelessness
• forthrightness
• openness
• candor
• directness
• plainness
• candidness
• plainspokenness

scheming

3 of 3

verb

present participle of scheme

as in conniving

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

Synonyms & Similar Words

• plotting
• conniving
• planning
• conspiring
• colluding
• contriving
• intriguing
• machinating
• devising
• concocting
• hatching
• designing
• manipulating
• compassing
• engineering
• putting up
• maneuvering
• jockeying
• cooking (up)
• brewing
• shaping
• mapping
• counterplotting
• laying out
• framing

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of scheming

Adjective

The doors that slam, as farcical doors are built to do, open to work spaces, where a good deal of time is spent scheming and counter-scheming. — Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times, 7 Feb. 2025

Many viewed him as being manipulated by his scheming mother, dowager Queen Frederica. — Demetris Nellas, BostonGlobe.com, 10 Jan. 2023

Noun

Again, this kind of scheming and sabotage has nothing to do with any AI model being conscious. — Matteo Wong, The Atlantic, 12 Aug. 2026

When your time in line nearly equals your time at dinner, the frictive experience of scheming, waiting, and pleading to get in becomes an inherent part of the dining experience itself. — Sam Stone, Bon Appetit Magazine, 10 Aug. 2026

Verb

Their coach is the scheming Miss Candy (Jamie-Lee O’Donnell from Derry Girls), who has some sort of score to settle with Tassie, though don’t ask me what. — David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 16 Sep. 2026

There are some rehab/sober house scenes in this that feel so authentic, from the dynamic between the counselor and Leo to Leo’s push and pull to stay but still scheming to stay on his own terms and use drugs. — Emily St. Martin, Los Angeles Times, 15 Sep. 2026