1
as in to plot
to engage in a secret plan to accomplish evil or unlawful ends
a trio of courtiers who were discovered to be machinating against the queen
Synonyms & Similar Words
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2
as in to negotiate
to plan out usually with subtle skill or care
the hackers machinated a way to steal credit numbers from the company's Web site
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of machinate
But Cleopatra, still machinating away in Alexandria, couldn’t handle the thought of Herod gaining any further traction in Antony’s affections.
—
Anne Thériault, Longreads, 18 Dec. 2019
Now a new scheme described by ProPublica and The Wall Street Journal involves families seemingly machinating to get an unfair leg up in paying for a coveted seat at a university.
—Adam Harris, The Atlantic, 30 July 2019
Anne Thériault, Longreads, 18 Dec. 2019
Now a new scheme described by ProPublica and The Wall Street Journal involves families seemingly machinating to get an unfair leg up in paying for a coveted seat at a university.
—Adam Harris, The Atlantic, 30 July 2019
Recent Examples of Synonyms for machinate
Verb
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Less than a month into the job, Trump and the Japanese Prime Minister plotted their response to a North Korean missile launch in the open-air patio of Mar a Lago, photos of which ended up on Facebook.—
Philip Elliott,
Time,
26 Mar. 2025
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Charity workers had plotted the heights and weights of Daasanach children on World Health Organization charts—the same ones our pediatrician used to monitor my daughter’s growth—and determined that more than two-thirds of the kids were malnourished.—
Manvir Singh,
The New Yorker,
24 Mar. 2025
Verb
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If Freeman wants Notre Dame’s next GM to have more roster control, that may mean negotiating contracts and handling NIL payments.—
Pete Sampson,
The Athletic,
13 Feb. 2025
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The pursuit was reinvigorated in the process of negotiating with Real Sociedad for the signing of Mikel Merino last August.—
The Athletic UK Staff,
The Athletic,
13 Feb. 2025
Verb
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Robert Trebor, who portrayed the serial killer known as the Son of Sam in a CBS telefilm and the scheming merchant Salmoneus on Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and its sister series, Xena: Warrior Princess, has died.—
Mike Barnes,
HollywoodReporter,
4 Apr. 2025
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Between the godmothers’ grief and a less-than-adequate police department, Lila will have to seek justice on her own terms and figure out which scheming godmother the vendetta was meant for.—
Clare Mulroy,
USA Today,
2 Apr. 2025
Verb
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This country is being manipulated by two people — and those too afraid to have the courage to oppose them.—
Chicago Tribune,
Chicago Tribune,
10 Apr. 2025
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In Season 4 of the Max comedy, Deborah Vance and Ava Daniels have manipulated their way into their respective dream jobs as host and head writer of a late-night talk show on network TV.—
Nina Metz,
Chicago Tribune,
10 Apr. 2025
Verb
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Oz: On [Richard’s] birthday, Laura arranged for maybe a dozen Civil War reenactors to come galloping onto the set.—
Andy Greene,
Rolling Stone,
9 Apr. 2025
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But the human author was a sort of conductor: prompting, arranging, intervening.—
Anna Wiener,
New Yorker,
9 Apr. 2025
Verb
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The utility found that purchasing new generators would make the plant economically unfeasible, said Blind, who was engineering director at Palisades during that time.—
Spencer Kimball,
CNBC,
22 Mar. 2025
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While the general feature set is the same, the RM 43-01 movement was largely engineered from the ground up over a three-year period.—
Blake Buettner,
Robb Report,
21 Mar. 2025
Verb
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But the confidence and craftsmanship invested in Crash are, ultimately, the problem, because the infuriatingly contrived screenplay and hushed seriousness conspire to produce a risible portrait of complex social issues reduced to glib plot points.—
Will Leitch,
Vulture,
3 Mar. 2025
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Is this explanation contrived and littered with potential plot points?—
Abby Monteil,
Them.,
28 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Machinate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/machinate. Accessed 21 Apr. 2025.
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