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Synonyms

schemer

American  
[skee-mer] / ˈski mər /

noun

  1. someone who devises plans or plots, especially underhanded ones.

    She is one of the memorable characters in literature, a born schemer and social climber unencumbered by any need to tell the truth.

Etymology

Origin of schemer

scheme ( def. ) + -er 1

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

With most people’s finances, this will suffice to keep them safe from schemers and bad actors.

From MarketWatch

She won her first film role in 1963’s “13 Frightened Girls” as a diplomat’s daughter but found greater renown as a backstabbing schemer on the ABC soap “Peyton Place” a few years later.

From Los Angeles Times

Duer was also an inveterate speculator and get-rich-quick schemer: “king of the alley,” as Thomas Jefferson derisively referred External link to Wall Street.

From Barron's

Duer was also an inveterate speculator and get-rich-quick schemer: “king of the alley,” as Thomas Jefferson derisively referred External link to Wall Street.

From Barron's

Mr. Powell radiates such manly American likability that it’s bizarrely out of character for him to play this ruthless schemer, even as an impish chancer.

From The Wall Street Journal

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.