as in schemes
a secret plan for accomplishing evil or unlawful ends
incredibly complicated machinations to assassinate the president that inevitably failed
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Recent Examples of machinations
The political machinations on the right and left appear little more than gamesmanship.
—
Joseph Ataman, CNN, 5 Dec. 2024
The dramatic events are accompanied by American jazz music and appearances of musicians of the early 1960s, plus a concert by Louis Armstrong, who, as an unwitting puppet of the CIA, gave a concert to an audience of 100,000 in the Congo as a distraction from the machinations of the West.
—Joanne Shurvell, Forbes, 27 Nov. 2024
Both the book and the Broadway version ultimately span years of plot machinations, but the Wicked film has chopped the story in half to handle its heft; Part 2 is set to arrive in theaters next year.
—Shirley Li, The Atlantic, 27 Nov. 2024
Democratic machinations are ongoing as the party elites and rank-and-file members alike puzzle the path forward, and the rest of us are just watching.
—Philip Elliott, TIME, 26 Nov. 2024
The primary point is not to pull the proverbial wool over one’s eyes on the problems with Amazon’s machinations.
—Steven Aquino, Forbes, 26 Nov. 2024
Chess is a game that takes place almost entirely within a player’s mind, their calculations and machinations visible only to a skilled viewer predicting the next move.
—Issy Ronald, CNN, 25 Nov. 2024
All insinuations about 'Russian machinations' are malicious slander, invented for use in the internal political struggles in the United States.
—Thomas G. Moukawsher, Newsweek, 6 Nov. 2024
The center’s job is to mitigate the effects of such machinations, and one of its main tools is forewarning voters through public bulletins.
—David D. Kirkpatrick, The New Yorker, 21 Oct. 2024
Joseph Ataman, CNN, 5 Dec. 2024
The dramatic events are accompanied by American jazz music and appearances of musicians of the early 1960s, plus a concert by Louis Armstrong, who, as an unwitting puppet of the CIA, gave a concert to an audience of 100,000 in the Congo as a distraction from the machinations of the West.
—Joanne Shurvell, Forbes, 27 Nov. 2024
Both the book and the Broadway version ultimately span years of plot machinations, but the Wicked film has chopped the story in half to handle its heft; Part 2 is set to arrive in theaters next year.
—Shirley Li, The Atlantic, 27 Nov. 2024
Democratic machinations are ongoing as the party elites and rank-and-file members alike puzzle the path forward, and the rest of us are just watching.
—Philip Elliott, TIME, 26 Nov. 2024
The primary point is not to pull the proverbial wool over one’s eyes on the problems with Amazon’s machinations.
—Steven Aquino, Forbes, 26 Nov. 2024
Chess is a game that takes place almost entirely within a player’s mind, their calculations and machinations visible only to a skilled viewer predicting the next move.
—Issy Ronald, CNN, 25 Nov. 2024
All insinuations about 'Russian machinations' are malicious slander, invented for use in the internal political struggles in the United States.
—Thomas G. Moukawsher, Newsweek, 6 Nov. 2024
The center’s job is to mitigate the effects of such machinations, and one of its main tools is forewarning voters through public bulletins.
—David D. Kirkpatrick, The New Yorker, 21 Oct. 2024
Thesaurus Entries Near machinations
Cite this Entry
“Machinations.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/machinations. Accessed 21 Dec. 2024.
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