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
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in plotting
Related Words
Dissimilar Words
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
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 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
Dalton Ross,
Entertainment Weekly,
4 June 2026
But who are the real monsters that need to be stopped — Mother and her children, or the scheming, self-serving Shaws?
—
Lynsey Eidell,
PEOPLE,
23 May 2026
Anna Russell,
New Yorker,
1 June 2026
In 2018, Nafis added a row of dahlias to the vegetable garden in her backyard and was soon scheming a way to create a cut-flower farm without leaving the city.
—
The Washington Post,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
30 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for 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 biggest move, of course, was taking the eviction power out of the hands of viewers and giving it to the contestants themselves, leading to all the scheming and scamming and plotting that has gone on ever since.
—
Dalton Ross,
Entertainment Weekly,
4 June 2026
But who are the real monsters that need to be stopped — Mother and her children, or the scheming, self-serving Shaws?
—
Lynsey Eidell,
PEOPLE,
23 May 2026
Verb
Lesley Manville plays the scheming Marquise de Merteuil.
—
Anna Russell,
New Yorker,
1 June 2026
In 2018, Nafis added a row of dahlias to the vegetable garden in her backyard and was soon scheming a way to create a cut-flower farm without leaving the city.
—
The Washington Post,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
30 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for scheming
Recent Examples of Synonyms for scheming
Adjective
-
That doesn't enable cunning and unprincipled men to subvert the power of the people.
-
For decades, humans mined antibiotic molecules from microbes and tweaked them to develop new drugs, staying ahead of evolution’s cunning countermeasures.
Noun
-
Instead the episode begins with Spike (James Marsters) and Drusilla (Juliet Landau) plotting.
-
Battle, conspiracy, plotting, and some new faces in the cast.
Adjective
-
Meanwhile, a cute side slit and practical pocket on the shorts add style and functionality.
-
Join the droves of shoppers buying this cute henley top with a relaxed fit.
Noun
-
Another defendant who pleaded guilty challenges the law through stealth and intermediaries for his company to win lucrative public building contracts.
-
Newer fighter jets like the F-22 Raptor, F-35 Lightning II, and China’s J-20 are undoubtedly the most advanced, featuring stealth, sensors, and networked warfare capabilities.
Adjective
-
Off a slick feed from Houssem Aouar, Algeria’s Riyad Mahrez scored his second goal of the game to give Algeria a 3-2 lead.
-
Appollis made some slick dribbles to set up a right-footed shot from outside the box.
Noun
-
Substance abuse is greatly detrimental in its own right, of course, but sometimes the issues that stem from it—stress, emotional exhaustion, secrecy, avoidance—can have similarly devastating long-term effects on a person’s wellbeing.
-
The agreement releases all survivors from any prior nondisclosure agreements and forbids any future such secrecy agreements, and prohibits any adult-to-minor digital communications in the archdiocese.
Cite this Entry
“Scheming.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/scheming. Accessed 3 Jul. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
