designing

American  

[dih-zahy-ning] / dɪˈzaɪ nɪŋ /

adjective

1. scheming; intriguing; artful; crafty.

   Synonyms:

   sly, tricky, cunning, wily

2. showing or using forethought.

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noun

1. the act or art of making designs.

designing British  

/ dɪˈzaɪnɪŋ /

adjective

1. artful and scheming; conniving; crafty

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Other Word Forms

• designingly adverb
• well-designing adjective

Etymology

Origin of designing

First recorded in 1610–20; design + -ing ², -ing ¹

Explanation

The adjective designing describes those who secretly scheme to get what they want, even if it means cheating others, like the designing group member who tricks everyone else into doing all the work for their shared project. You might incorrectly assume designing means "creative," in the sense of a fashion designer, but instead of beautiful clothing, the designing person dreams only of his or her own best interests — before anyone else's. Someone who’s designing plans ahead to make sure things go his way, even if it means lying or making other people look bad. A good synonym for designing is scheming.

Example Sentences

By then, Donovan had earned an architecture degree from Yale University and was designing homes.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 9, 2026

Marvell’s business designing custom AI chips —called application-specific integrated circuits, or ASICs—has been the focus of investors in recent years.

From Barron's • Apr. 9, 2026

For that, the Armstrong team had a more focused role designing and testing the network of hundreds of sensors that would be the agency’s eyes and ears for the test.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 31, 2026

Answering this will be essential for planning human reproduction in future Moon and Mars settlements and for designing artificial gravity systems that support healthy development.

From Science Daily • Mar. 29, 2026

His speed in designing and building the apparatus was more impressive than the results he obtained, which matched Swann’s expectations and therefore advanced science by a tiny increment, if at all.

From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik