How to Use mastermind in a Sentence

mastermind

1 of 2 noun
  • To beat back the Russians and their mastermind Vladimir Putin.
    Greg Palkot, Fox News, 18 June 2023
  • Levin, a close confidant of the prime minister, is the mastermind of the overhaul.
    Tia Goldenberg, Chicago Tribune, 23 July 2023
  • Whether with a gun, a mastermind or a monster, most thrillers thrill by invoking the specter of death: Who’s going to die and how?
    Jesse Green, New York Times, 2 Mar. 2023
  • Lovullo suspected Gurriel was the mastermind of the vest at the end of Monday's game.
    José M. Romero, The Arizona Republic, 30 May 2023
  • Chesebro was the original mastermind behind the plan to use slates of fake electors to swing the election for Trump.
    Tori Otten, The New Republic, 6 Sep. 2023
  • Hailey Bieber is the mastermind behind so many of the year’s most inescapable fashion and beauty trends.
    Hanna Lustig, Glamour, 15 Dec. 2023
  • Vance stars as Jeremy Horne, a criminal mastermind who is on his way to prison but decides to pull one last job.
    Angelique Jackson, Variety, 9 Oct. 2023
  • Ray turns out to be the mastermind behind it all: Her brother-in-law set Zyair up for murder as revenge for the artist sleeping with his wife.
    Monica Mercuri, Forbes, 25 Feb. 2024
  • One thing is fairly certain: Swift and her team were the masterminds behind every move.
    James Hibberd, The Hollywood Reporter, 17 Oct. 2023
  • If that’s the case: join the masterminds, watch the how-to videos and experiment with creating in different forms.
    Jodie Cook, Forbes, 19 Apr. 2023
  • Cho then turned her attention to Rachel Espersen, the culinary mastermind behind the evening's feast.
    Lilah Ramzi, Vogue, 15 Sep. 2023
  • Authorities have said Vicky White was in a two-year relationship with White, and the sheriff called her the mastermind of the escape at the time.
    Phil Helsel, NBC News, 5 May 2023
  • Chanel is also the mastermind behind this creamy neutral nail look, which isolates the illusion of the double ombré at the tips of each nail.
    Allure, 27 Dec. 2022
  • DeLand is back in the hunt with a strong senior class for coach Rick Darlington, the mastermind of Apopka’s three state title teams.
    Staff Reports, Orlando Sentinel, 18 Aug. 2023
  • But the show makes a messy concluding three-point-turn near the end, proposing that perhaps Jocelyn was the evil mastermind after all.
    Maya Phillips, New York Times, 3 Sep. 2023
  • This led to speculation that the mastermind of the semi-botched murder plot could have been on board the boat, perhaps even a victim of Tanya’s shooting spree.
    Mikey O'Connell, The Hollywood Reporter, 25 May 2023
  • It is based on designs by André Le Nôtre, the mastermind behind the famous gardens at Versailles.
    Kristin Braswell, Travel + Leisure, 25 Mar. 2023
  • In the post, Brady suggested that daughter Vivian was the mastermind behind the kittens' adoption.
    Hannah Sacks, Peoplemag, 31 May 2023
  • The mastermind of a historic pay-to-play scheme for wealthy parents to get their teens into top universities is set to be sentenced next week.
    Lauren Del Valle, CNN, 29 Dec. 2022
  • The mastermind behind it was the one man Gunther was always seen with: Maurizio Mian.
    Keith Nelson, Men's Health, 3 Feb. 2023
  • Enough with this whole media apology tour, says Ira Sorkin, lead defense lawyer for Madoff, late mastermind of one of the greatest Ponzi schemes of all time.
    Ava Benny-Morrison, Fortune, 2 Dec. 2022
  • In that vein, on Tuesday, Smith was arguing that Jenkins had no motive to sign the law letters, and that Krop was the mastermind of the entire enterprise.
    Clara Niel, Baltimore Sun, 20 July 2023
  • Hylton was the mastermind behind the beloved singers’ earliest style moments.
    Kerane Marcellus, Essence, 10 Jan. 2024
  • Carpio has previously accused El Cabo 20 as the alleged mastermind, but he has not been charged in Martínez’s case.
    Alexandra Mendoza, San Diego Union-Tribune, 25 Jan. 2024
  • Initially, neither the U.S. — nor apparently the Taliban — were aware that the mastermind was dead.
    Farnoush Amiri, Matthew Lee and Aamer Madhani, Anchorage Daily News, 25 Apr. 2023
  • Through Louie’s final chapter, Lewis wants to show that not all villains are evil, not all women are quiet, and Franklin isn’t the only Snowfall mastermind.
    Ile-Ife Okantah, Vulture, 29 Mar. 2023
  • An expert in the wedding and event planning business, Blum has been the mastermind behind countless A-list celebrity weddings.
    Emily Strohm, Peoplemag, 14 Nov. 2023
  • In a scene of high comedy, French Inspector Lavalle, insists that the criminal mastermind behind the theft must be French.
    John Hopewell, Variety, 18 Dec. 2023
  • According to Roman lore, the mastermind was a brilliant artist who had committed a horrible crime and found a safe haven among the Capuchins.
    Theo Zenou, Smithsonian Magazine, 8 Feb. 2023
  • The college admissions scam mastermind was sentenced to prison.
    Los Angeles Times, 5 Jan. 2023
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mastermind

2 of 2 verb
  • They masterminded a unique solution to the problem.
  • He masterminded the bank robbery.
  • Out on their own as a trio, Kaz also grows from club owner to mastermind.
    Tamara Fuentes, Seventeen, 19 Apr. 2021
  • That does not mean the Seaport San Diego project can be masterminded, let alone built, in a bubble.
    San Diego Union-Tribune, 20 July 2019
  • The former army chief who masterminded the 2014 coup has now been in power for nine years.
    Heather Chen, CNN, 13 May 2023
  • With many believing Kim Jong-un masterminded the scheme, the film is sure to be a bombshell.
    Ariana Marsh, Harper's BAZAAR, 6 Feb. 2020
  • Dutch naval architects Azure Yacht Design were called in to mastermind slicing open the hull and adding the 20-foot extension.
    Howard Walker, Robb Report, 28 Apr. 2023
  • The maverick masterminded a stunning achievement for the Rams, who lay in the second tier on his arrival.
    SI.com, 15 July 2019
  • The chef is Diego Argoti, who most recently masterminded the series of Estrano Things pop-ups in the space and elsewhere over the last year.
    Bill Addisonrestaurant Critic, Los Angeles Times, 25 Feb. 2023
  • But in the blossoming of Lagerfeld’s celebrity—if not his rebirth as a Parisian—nothing has the weight of his masterminding fashions at Chanel.
    Kennedy Fraser, Vogue, 19 Feb. 2019
  • All five banks played parts in cum-ex deals masterminded by Mr Shields, with Mr Diable in a supporting role.
    The Economist, 21 Sep. 2019
  • Better Call Saul saw Gus begin to ruthlessly mastermind all sorts of plans for his drug empire, but the scene that required the most thought for the man who plays him was much gentler.
    Dan Snierson, EW.com, 24 Aug. 2022
  • Heinel has pleaded not guilty to federal charges, while Singer has pleaded guilty to masterminding the scheme.
    CBS News, 13 Nov. 2019
  • However, Fae has now masterminded an unlikely win over the reigning champion and a team that cruised through the group stages with three wins from three.
    Matias Grez, CNN, 30 Jan. 2024
  • But many were shocked to see sympathy for — or agreement with — the terrorist who masterminded 9/11.
    Miles Klee, Rolling Stone, 15 Nov. 2023
  • Not even Taylor Swift herself could have masterminded this one.
    Vulture, 1 June 2023
  • Protesters are demanding the withdrawal of UN forces from the central African country for failing to rein in rebel groups in the east who mastermind lethal attacks against civilians.
    Nimi Princewill, CNN, 4 Aug. 2022
  • The former hotel worker was found guilty of allegedly masterminding the murder of his boss.
    Stephen Humphries, The Christian Science Monitor, 22 Jan. 2024
  • Schmeets is on the government's lengthy witness list, as is Lavrick Willocks, who authorities said masterminded the scam.
    Fox News, 9 Sep. 2018
  • And the idea that Jobim, in fighting not just to compose the album but to arrange and mastermind it, was acting like some sort of dictatorial guru is absurd.
    Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 12 Oct. 2023
  • The entire crux of Vine, which shut down in 2017, hinged on quantitative thrift: creators had to mastermind spurts of elliptical, comedic genius in six seconds.
    Jason Parham, Wired, 19 Aug. 2020
  • Low masterminded a money laundering and bribery scheme that pilfered billions from the Malaysian state investment fund known as 1MDB.
    Lindsay Whitehurst, Anchorage Daily News, 27 Apr. 2023
  • The German has help mastermind an unbeaten domestic run which promises to end the club's 30 year wait for England's top-flight title and the Reds' record-breaking season shows no sign no sign of slowing down.
    Ben Church and Alex Thomas, CNN, 29 Feb. 2020
  • In 2012, a Houston jury convicted him of masterminding the scheme.
    Mark Curridenthe Texas Lawbook, Houston Chronicle, 9 Aug. 2019
  • These Christmas gift-wrapping ideas will show you how to mastermind last-minute holiday gift wrap with household supplies as unassuming as graph paper and Sharpies.
    Southern Living Editors, Southern Living, 1 Nov. 2023
  • And Juliet coolly and calmly masterminds a plot that breaks up Dan and Vanessa and possibly will get Serena expelled.
    Elizabeth Logan, Glamour, 19 Sep. 2018
  • One prominent effort to do so is being masterminded from the top floor of an art-deco building in downtown San Francisco.
    The Economist, 12 July 2018
  • But prosecutors told jurors Sneed did so in a murder-for-hire plot masterminded by Glossip.
    Brynn Gingras, CNN, 20 Apr. 2023
  • The fugitive financer is accused of masterminding a money laundering and bribery scheme that pilfered billions from the Malaysian state investment fund known as 1MDB.
    Lindsay Whitehurst, Fortune, 30 Mar. 2023
  • Now that that's out of the way, here's the news: The streaming service just tapped Coco co-writer Matthew Aldrich to mastermind the endeavor, handling development on all of the various adaptations.
    Angela Watercutter, WIRED, 13 June 2019

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'mastermind.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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