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

The reunion of the pair after their scheming didn't fully go to plan, though, as the arrival of Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans), who fans last saw in the season 2 finale, threw everything off. — Julia Moore, PEOPLE, 30 June 2026

Hatcher — a Pomo shape-shifter who dodges prejudice by passing as Mexican in the novel — is a thorny protagonist, often cunning, scheming and unforgiving. — Maddie Connors, Los Angeles Times, 24 June 2026

Verb

Supposedly scheming to raise rents in order to raise broker fees often pegged to rent prices, Compass went to war with Zillow, the most popular free real estate platform that never charges broker fees. — Ashley Belanger, ArsTechnica, 21 Aug. 2026

This season, Inniss said, while the emphasis is on the receiver to fight through contact and get up field, the coaching staff has emphasized scheming ways to get the receivers more yards after catch. — Cameron Teague Robinson, New York Times, 21 Aug. 2026