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 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
as in plotting
Related Words
Dissimilar 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
Tharin Pillay, Time, 18 Sep. 2025
The Morning Show’s journalists and executives are back to boardroom scheming and digging for the truth in a new trailer for the Apple TV+ show’s fourth season.
—Cheyenne Roundtree, Rolling Stone, 20 Aug. 2025
Demetris Nellas, BostonGlobe.com, 10 Jan. 2023
Dan Aykroyd and Eddie Murphy get revenge on two scheming executives.
—Aj Willingham, CNN, 23 Dec. 2022
Dominic Patten, Deadline, 25 Sep. 2025
Its teenage characters, scheming to realize their dead friend’s dream of moving to California, are a skeleton key that unlocks a multigenerational Indigenous community.
—Judy Berman, Time, 23 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for scheming
Adjective
But the researchers expect that scheming will only increase as models become more capable.
—Tharin Pillay, Time, 18 Sep. 2025
The Morning Show’s journalists and executives are back to boardroom scheming and digging for the truth in a new trailer for the Apple TV+ show’s fourth season.
—Cheyenne Roundtree, Rolling Stone, 20 Aug. 2025
Verb
Many viewed him as being manipulated by his scheming mother, dowager Queen Frederica.
—Demetris Nellas, BostonGlobe.com, 10 Jan. 2023
Dan Aykroyd and Eddie Murphy get revenge on two scheming executives.
—Aj Willingham, CNN, 23 Dec. 2022
Noun
The stuntman son of the man who Nissa Diederich took over from at 20th Television last year is suing the EVP and the Walt Disney Company for retaliation and scheming to put him on a career-killing blacklist.
—Dominic Patten, Deadline, 25 Sep. 2025
Its teenage characters, scheming to realize their dead friend’s dream of moving to California, are a skeleton key that unlocks a multigenerational Indigenous community.
—Judy Berman, Time, 23 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for scheming
Recent Examples of Synonyms for scheming
Adjective
-
Norris portrays the cunning and relentless Chief Dennison, with Tripp as Liz Bradley, a border patrol agent with a true-north moral compass, in her first major film role.—
Matt Grobar,
Deadline,
7 Oct. 2025
-
Maigret must outwit some of Paris’s most cunning and violent criminals, while dealing with his own troubled past.—
Jessica Radloff,
Glamour,
1 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
Others, like Ghiath Dalla, a brigadier general whose forces were involved in violent repression of protests, is among several former officers plotting sabotage from Lebanon, according to ex-military commanders, who also shared text message exchanges with The Times.—
Danny Makki,
New York Times,
16 Oct. 2025
-
The president revoked Bolton’s Secret Service detail earlier this year, even as Iranian operatives remained under an indictment for plotting to assassinate him.—
Kaelan Deese,
The Washington Examiner,
15 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
Surrounded by spies, at odds with his colleagues, forced to proceed by stealth in a second language and an unfamiliar culture, Franklin had difficulties enough without having to hear of his son’s Loyalist activities.—
Stacy Schiff,
The Atlantic,
8 Oct. 2025
-
This should happen after the Northrop Grumman B-21 Raider stealth bomber flips from cash losses to cash profit around 2029 and 2030.—
Lisa Kailai Han,
CNBC,
8 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
There are also two new delightfully cute additions to the collection — a shiny gold pair that would look radiant on warm-tone complexions and a pair that’s as stylishly macabre as the others, only smaller in size.—
Alyssa Grabinski,
PEOPLE,
11 Oct. 2025
-
The songs remind kids that costumes can be cute and colorful instead of frightening.—
Elisabeth Sherman,
Parents,
10 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
The next movie from the multi-Oscar winning Everything Everywhere All at Once duo is shrouded in secrecy.—
Anthony D'Alessandro,
Deadline,
15 Oct. 2025
-
Hibatullah Akhundzada lives in near-total secrecy in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar and rarely makes public appearances.—
NPR,
NPR,
14 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Scheming.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/scheming. Accessed 17 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share