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
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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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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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During his trial at the Constitutional Court last month, Han denied plotting martial law with Yoon.—
Gawon Bae,
CNN,
24 Mar. 2025
Verb
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Even an indication that the White House is willing to negotiate with trading partners could help stem the losses.—
Allison Morrow,
CNN Money,
7 Apr. 2025
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Officials have not made clear whether the White House is open to negotiating the tariffs.—
Sarah Fortinsky,
The Hill,
7 Apr. 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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Decades earlier, Loftus had demonstrated that people’s memories of visual details could be manipulated by posing questions that contained misinformation.—
Bernice Andrews,
Scientific American,
8 Apr. 2025
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While Ticketmaster denies using surge pricing or dynamic algorithms to manipulate prices, fans like Jessica Chou question if their early participation in presales might be contributing to higher initial costs.—
Caché McClay,
USA Today,
8 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 engine is mated to an 8-speed automatic transmission driving the front or all four wheels (all-wheel drive, engineered to maximize on-road traction, is offered on all trims).—
Michael Harley,
Forbes.com,
8 Apr. 2025
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The new animals are reported to have had 15 variants engineered in.—
John Timmer,
ArsTechnica,
7 Apr. 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 15 Apr. 2025.
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