scheming
adjective
schem·ing ˈskē-miŋ 
: given to forming schemes
especially : devious
Synonyms
- artful
- beguiling
- cagey
- cagy
- crafty
- cunning
- cute
- designing
- devious
- dodgy [chiefly British]
- foxy
- guileful
- shrewd
- slick
- sly
- subtle
- tricky
- wily
See all Synonyms & Antonyms 
Example Sentences
the novel is about an elderly man and his scheming son who is impatient to inherit the family fortune
Recent Examples on the Web Medici has been depicted as a scheming figure, notorious for her use of poison and her role in acts of religious persecution. 
Ew Staff, EW.com, 9 Sep. 2022 That endless yet claustrophobic snow scape, the anxious narcissism of William H. Macy’s scheming car salesman, the glory of Frances McDormand’s pregnant police chief Marge. Ed Stockly, Los Angeles Times, 24 Aug. 2022 The pilot for the Cruel Intentions series was filmed in 2016, with Sarah Michelle Gellar reprising her fan-favorite role as Kathryn Merteuil, the seductive and scheming stepsister of Phillippe's Sebastian. Keith Langston, EW.com, 19 July 2022 Shakespeare’s a most unflattering character in the show, a scheming combination fop and rock star. David L. Coddon, San Diego Union-Tribune, 22 July 2022 Through an exclusive matchmaking agency that caters to the ultra rich, a divorcee plots revenge against her ex-husband’s scheming mistress. Jacob Siegal, BGR, 10 July 2022 The shortage has sparked outrage, dismay and more than a little scheming on social media accounts. Paul Stephen, San Antonio Express-News, 17 June 2022 Spying swordtails, wily ravens and scheming mongooses are just three examples of the means by which animals make their power plays. Lee Alan Dugatkin, Scientific American, 15 Apr. 2022 In Zellweger’s hands, Pam at least has a scheming interiority, wheels that are spinning in ways that the show unveils at a glacial pace. Daniel Fienberg, The Hollywood Reporter, 8 Mar. 2022 See More
Ew Staff, EW.com, 9 Sep. 2022 That endless yet claustrophobic snow scape, the anxious narcissism of William H. Macy’s scheming car salesman, the glory of Frances McDormand’s pregnant police chief Marge. Ed Stockly, Los Angeles Times, 24 Aug. 2022 The pilot for the Cruel Intentions series was filmed in 2016, with Sarah Michelle Gellar reprising her fan-favorite role as Kathryn Merteuil, the seductive and scheming stepsister of Phillippe's Sebastian. Keith Langston, EW.com, 19 July 2022 Shakespeare’s a most unflattering character in the show, a scheming combination fop and rock star. David L. Coddon, San Diego Union-Tribune, 22 July 2022 Through an exclusive matchmaking agency that caters to the ultra rich, a divorcee plots revenge against her ex-husband’s scheming mistress. Jacob Siegal, BGR, 10 July 2022 The shortage has sparked outrage, dismay and more than a little scheming on social media accounts. Paul Stephen, San Antonio Express-News, 17 June 2022 Spying swordtails, wily ravens and scheming mongooses are just three examples of the means by which animals make their power plays. Lee Alan Dugatkin, Scientific American, 15 Apr. 2022 In Zellweger’s hands, Pam at least has a scheming interiority, wheels that are spinning in ways that the show unveils at a glacial pace. Daniel Fienberg, The Hollywood Reporter, 8 Mar. 2022 See More Word History
First Known Use
1741, in the meaning defined above
scheming 1 of 3
adjective
as in cunning
clever at attaining one's ends by indirect and often deceptive means the novel is about an elderly man and his scheming son who is impatient to inherit the family fortune Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
- cunning
- cute
- designing
- devious
- subtle
- wily
- fraudulent
- plotting
- slick
- dishonest
- treacherous
- deceptive
- sly
- crafty
- crooked
- shrewd
- calculating
- artful
- beguiling
- cagey
- guileful
- deceitful
- tricky
- foxy
- shady
- cagy
- dodgy
- unscrupulous
- covert
- slippery
- sneaky
- underhanded
- shifty
- undercover
- insinuating
- astute
- knavish
- clandestine
- secret
- sharp
- underhand
- insincere
- facile
- Machiavellian
- serpentine
- hypocritical
- oblique
- glib
- double-dealing
- circular
- surreptitious
- concealed
- furtive
- roundabout
- two-faced
- circuitous
- stealthy
- mealy
- backhanded
- mealymouthed
- smooth-tongued
- hugger-mugger
- left-handed
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- innocent
- obvious
- guileless
- real
- artless
- public
- plain
- open
- outspoken
- direct
- simple
- ingenuous
- sincere
- honest
- patent
- unsophisticated
- simpleminded
- forthright
- frank
- straightforward
- unconcealed
- childlike
- unaffected
- natural
- undesigning
- impressionable
- candid
- aboveboard
- unpretentious
- unpretending
- trusting
- unworldly
- unvarnished
- unforced
- plainspoken
- unstudied
- trustful
scheming
2 of 3noun
as in plotting
Synonyms & Similar Words
- plotting
- stealth
- secrecy
- deception
- cunning
- design
- dirty tricks
- duplicity
- dirty pool
- deceit
- treachery
- humbuggery
- deviousness
- imposture
- cunning
- double-dealing
- dissimulation
- fakery
- guile
- hypocrisy
- sneakiness
- quackery
- trickery
- underhandedness
- subterfuge
- insincerity
- shrewdness
- dishonesty
- deceptiveness
- slyness
- shiftiness
- crookedness
- dupery
- craftiness
- wiliness
- skulduggery
- skullduggery
- crookery
- deceitfulness
- wile
- gamesmanship
- chicanery
- artfulness
- caginess
- slipperiness
- slickness
- shadiness
- legerdemain
- oiliness
- jugglery
- guilefulness
- cageyness
- hanky-panky
- chicane
- jiggery-pokery
- artifice
- foxiness
- sharpness
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- ingenuousness
- sincerity
- artlessness
- guilelessness
- openness
- forthrightness
- candor
- directness
- plainness
- candidness
- plainspokenness
scheming
3 of 3verb
as in conniving
to engage in a secret plan to accomplish evil or unlawful ends the town inspector had schemed to overlook the contractor's code violations in exchange for a substantial bribe Synonyms & Similar Words
- plotting
- conniving
- planning
- colluding
- conspiring
- contriving
- machinating
- intriguing
- devising
- concocting
- engineering
- compassing
- hatching
- manipulating
- maneuvering
- designing
- jockeying
- brewing
- putting up
- mapping
- counterplotting
- shaping
- cooking (up)
- framing
- laying out