the scheme of things

noun phrase

: the general way that things are organized and relate to each other
Everyone has their role to play in the overall scheme of things.
Our problems aren't really that important in the grand scheme of things.

Examples of the scheme of things in a Sentence

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Last year, the Supreme Court upheld a different and, in the scheme of things, relatively minor provision of the law in United States v. Rahimi. Adam Liptak, New York Times, 6 Jan. 2025 That’s low in the scheme of things, but regulation these days can be increasingly laundered through subsidy and spending programs, procurement and contracting, public-private partnerships, numerous kinds of guidance documents and plain old threats. Clyde Wayne Crews Jr., Forbes, 31 Dec. 2024 Perhaps insignificant in the scheme of things, but the event being staged in the UAE is underwhelming. Tristan Lavalette, Forbes, 24 Dec. 2024 Still, a thousand light years is pretty close by in the scheme of things. Janna Levin, Quanta Magazine, 19 Dec. 2024 Maybe in the scheme of things, the death toll from driving through New York City isn’t worth fussing over. Justin Davidson, Curbed, 13 Nov. 2024 But that’s still relatively little in the scheme of things. Dylan Matthews, Vox, 3 Dec. 2024 But the truth is, in the scheme of things, mass possessions in convents weren’t all that usual. Amelia Soth, JSTOR Daily, 31 Oct. 2024 Her social media posts, even those that nod to fashion and accessories, are authentic takes on life by a woman who is at once unabashed and earnest, a progressive who understands her gravity in the scheme of things. Jeffrey Fleishman, Los Angeles Times, 13 Oct. 2024

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Cite this Entry

“The scheme of things.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/the%20scheme%20of%20things. Accessed 23 Jan. 2025.

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