calculating

[kal-kyuh-ley-ting]

adjective

1. capable of or made for performing calculations, especially arithmetical calculations.

   a calculating machine.

2. shrewd; cautious.

   a wise and calculating lawyer.

3. selfishly scheming.

   a cold and calculating dictator.

   Synonyms: designing

calculating

/ ˈkælkjʊˌleɪtɪŋ /

adjective

1. selfishly scheming

2. shrewd; cautious

Other Word Forms

• calculatingly adverb
• noncalculating adjective
• uncalculating adjective
• uncalculatingly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of calculating¹

First recorded in 1800–10; calculat(e) + -ing ²

Example Sentences

Yet most people don’t know how to assess their insurance needs, for example, by calculating how much financial shock they can absorb from different emergencies.

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At the Lyceum, Lincoln urged that the country’s growing mobocratic spirit be replaced by “cold, calculating, unimpassioned reason”; that “reverence for the laws . . . become the political religion of the nation.”

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One caveat is that multiple engrams of differing sizes existing around a common center are deemed to represent similar concepts and are therefore treated as one when calculating memory capacity.

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De minimis, which is Latin for something of little importance, dates to 1938 when Congress passed the exception to boost trade and save the time of inspecting and calculating taxes on every package.

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Professors are calculating how long science and medical research labs can stay open — some have three months left before downsizing.

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Related Words

• canny 
• considerate 
• devious 
• manipulative 
• scheming 
• shrewd 
• wily