orchestrate
Americanverb (used with or without object)
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to compose or arrange (music) for performance by an orchestra.
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to arrange or manipulate, especially by means of clever or thorough planning or maneuvering.
to orchestrate a profitable trade agreement.
verb
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to score or arrange (a piece of music) for orchestra
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to arrange, organize, or build up for special or maximum effect
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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orchestraternoun
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orchestrationnoun
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orchestratornoun
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overorchestrateverb
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reorchestrateverb
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unorchestratedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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orchestratesimple
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orchestratessimple
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have orchestratedperfect
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has orchestratedperfect
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am orchestratingprogressive
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are orchestratingprogressive
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is orchestratingprogressive
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have been orchestratingperfect progressive
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has been orchestratingperfect progressive
Past
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orchestratedsimple
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had orchestratedperfect
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was orchestratingprogressive
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were orchestratingprogressive
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had been orchestratingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of orchestrate
First recorded in 1875–80; from French orchestr(er) (derivative of orchestre orchestra ) + -ate 1
Explanation
To orchestrate is to design or organize something, like a plan or a project. You could orchestrate an orchestra or you could just orchestrate a yard sale. An orchestra is a large group of classical musicians led by a conductor: it consists of many people playing together. Similarly, when we talk about orchestrating, someone is coordinating the activities of many people to accomplish something. The manager of an office orchestrates the business. A coach orchestrates the play of the team. Terrorist leaders orchestrate attacks. Orchestrating is like directing, and it applies to many more things than just music.
Vocabulary lists containing orchestrate
The Devil's Arithmetic
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The Fault in Our Stars
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"Number the Stars" by Lois Lowry, Introduction and Afterword
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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.
See Examples For:
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to act "with full force against the terrorists and those who orchestrate and sponsor them".
From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026
Saulque and Kauk are part of an Indigenous-led coalition that has sought to help manage the horses that they call “family,” proposing to run a pack station and orchestrate equine therapy.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 30, 2026
He strongly implies she was instructed to orchestrate her own arrest in order to create propaganda for the movement.
From Salon ● May 20, 2026
But AI servers still need traditional CPU chips like Intel’s to orchestrate everything.
From Barron's ● Apr. 24, 2026
“I mean, it’s a little creepy having my sister orchestrate the whole thing.”
From "Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda" by Becky Albertalli
OpenClaw, an open-source tool that orchestrates multiple agents, has also added to the popularity of agents at work.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 15, 2026
The platform orchestrates and automates customers’ decision-making through AI.
From Barron's ● Apr. 30, 2026
He is so key for them with the way he orchestrates everything.
From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2025
Scott orchestrates something like this in the movie, pitting the crews of two ships, one manned by Roman soldiers, the other by gladiators, against each other.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 13, 2024
Sammy orchestrates a reintroduction for me with Stone’s boss, one of the biggest numbers runners in Harlem: West Indian Archie.
From "X: A Novel" by Ilyasah Shabazz
All this happens after Zack turns up with a missing toe, which Anna suspects Max orchestrated.
From Salon ● Jul. 17, 2026
According to an obviously orchestrated set of phone calls to friends, though, the guy has never been better.
From Slate ● Jul. 11, 2026
The prosecution suggested that the disorder which broke out had been deliberately orchestrated by dissident republicans to coincide with the presence of MTV.
From BBC ● Jul. 3, 2026
The renovation of the White House she orchestrated wasn’t decorative.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 30, 2026
The KGB deliberately played up his re-defection, hoping to sow confusion inside the CIA and FBI over whether he had been telling them the truth—or whether the whole episode was a carefully orchestrated KGB deception.
From "Spies: The Secret Showdown Between America and Russia" by Marc Favreau
In addition to orchestrating different AI models, the AI Control Tower is now increasingly serving as a gateway to vet nonhuman identities.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 22, 2026
After her departure from the cabinet in November 2024, Haigh maintained a high profile on the backbenches, playing a key role in orchestrating the Labour rebellion against proposed welfare cuts last year.
From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026
The company is in the early stages of orchestrating a turnaround under its newly appointed Chief Executive Enrique Lores.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 15, 2026
The show was always brilliant at orchestrating moods, with its slow-fast, quiet-loud contrasts, its extreme close-ups and noisy action scenes.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 29, 2026
He directs an absurd play within a play, orchestrating actors onstage to whom he is invisible.
From "Drama High" by Michael Sokolove
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.
