1
as in plotting
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
Synonyms & Similar Words
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2
as in negotiating
to plan out usually with subtle skill or care
the hackers machinated a way to steal credit numbers from the company's Web site
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for machinating
Verb
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After expressing sorrow for having put innocent people in danger by transporting weaponry and plotting to commit an act of violence in a public place, Allen’s letter lays out his list of targets.—
Brian Niemietz,
New York Daily News,
27 Apr. 2026 -
But the show’s plotting and Niall’s exquisite complexity more than make up for Ruben’s relative flatness.—
Inkoo Kang,
New Yorker,
24 Apr. 2026
Verb
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In countries like Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger, the push to develop local mineral value chains has taken the tone of negotiating higher equity stakes in mining projects for the government, accompanied by threats of seizures and hostile takeovers.—
Alexander Onukwue,
semafor.com,
24 Apr. 2026
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That may be easier said than done while negotiating airports and trekking across new terrain.—
Donna Vickroy,
Chicago Tribune,
24 Apr. 2026
Verb
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This can involve pretending to be an IT customer support and manipulating an employee at a target company into handing over internal access.—
Michael Kan,
PC Magazine,
24 Apr. 2026
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But even then, our team of artists got in there and just started manipulating things.—
Damon Wise,
Deadline,
20 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Ballmer steadfastly denies arranging the deal between Aspiration and Leonard, who by all accounts performed no duties for Aspiration.—
Steve Henson,
Los Angeles Times,
23 Apr. 2026
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Just three weeks ago, Vancouver Police reported five incidents involving a man allegedly robbing people after arranging to meet with him, to sell the suspect Pokémon cards.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
22 Apr. 2026
Verb
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These teams are growing fiber from bacteria, engineering cotton that comes out of the ground in color and creating silk like fibers from compost.—
Lizzie Lanuza,
StyleCaster,
27 Apr. 2026
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The development solves the long-standing issues of material degradation and leakage (crossover) by re-engineering the iron complex at the molecular level.—
Mrigakshi Dixit,
Interesting Engineering,
27 Apr. 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Machinating.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/machinating. Accessed 2 May. 2026.
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