machinate

verb

mach·​i·​nate ˈma-kə-ˌnāt  ˈma-shə- 

machinated; machinating

intransitive verb

: to plan or plot especially to do harm

transitive verb

: to scheme or contrive to bring about : plot

machinator

ˈma-kə-ˌnā-tər 

ˈma-shə-

noun

Synonyms

• collude
• compass
• connive
• conspire
• contrive
• intrigue
• plot
• put up
• scheme

Examples of machinate in a Sentence

a trio of courtiers who were discovered to be machinating against the queen

the hackers machinated a way to steal credit numbers from the company's website

Recent Examples on the Web

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

Word History

Etymology

Latin machinatus, past participle of machinari, from machina machine, contrivance

First Known Use

1537, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense

Kids Definition

machinate

verb

mach·​i·​nate ˈmak-ə-ˌnāt  ˈmash-ə- 

machinated; machinating

: plot entry 2 sense 2

especially : to scheme to do harm

machination

ˌmak-ə-ˈnā-shən

ˌmash-ə-

noun

machinator

ˈmak-ə-ˌnāt-ər 

ˈmash-

noun