concoct
Americanverb (used with object)
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concocts,
present (3rd person singular)
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concocted,
past participle, past
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concocting
present participle
verb
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to make by combining different ingredients
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to invent; make up; contrive
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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concoctsimple
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concoctssimple
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have concoctedperfect
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has concoctedperfect
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am concoctingprogressive
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are concoctingprogressive
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is concoctingprogressive
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have been concoctingperfect progressive
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has been concoctingperfect progressive
Past
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concoctedsimple
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had concoctedperfect
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was concoctingprogressive
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were concoctingprogressive
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had been concoctingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of concoct
First recorded in 1525–35; from Latin concoctus (past participle of concoquere “to cook together”), equivalent to con- con- + coc-, variant stem of coquere “to boil, cook 1 ” from Greek péptein; see pepsin, peptic) + -tus past participle ending
Explanation
When you concoct something, you mix up different ingredients. If you want to become a mad scientist or a wizard, you'll have to learn how to concoct strange potions. If the word concoction makes you think of steaming caldrons or liquids bubbling in test tubes, you’ll be amused to know that it comes from a Latin word for “digestion.” Yum! On summer days, children sometimes concoct imaginative stews from grass, leaves and dirt. They may also concoct lies to explain why they tried feeding such concoctions to their little sister.
Vocabulary lists containing concoct
NAEP Test Words
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Excerpt from "Letter from Birmingham Jail"
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And Then There Were None
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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:
One way seems to be through the “distributed attentional focus” that music inspires, where we concoct images in time with the sound.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 15, 2026
But the sport’s actual heartland, where engineers concoct the most sophisticated machines in motor sports, could hardly be farther from superyachts and velvet ropes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 30, 2026
It’s almost possible to concoct a silver lining from this dreadful situation, but only by focusing on short-term electoral politics in the most bloodless and instrumental fashion.
From Salon ● Apr. 26, 2026
Rather, he’s using a shoestring budget to concoct left-of-center sights that feel like a peek into a specific Los Angeles netherworld.
From Salon ● Apr. 5, 2026
“Uh . . . not really,” I said, realizing that I probably should’ve bothered to concoct a more elaborate cover story.
From "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children" by Ransom Riggs
While seizing on a story about Manhattanites living in storage facilities, he meets Virginia, with whom he concocts a plan to infiltrate a massive Oklahoma data center.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 12, 2026
With each manicured frame and deceptively poignant observation on the impossibility of living normally in modern life, Kramer concocts an original, wonderfully empathetic study of the desire to play spectator to a world on fire.
From Salon ● Feb. 18, 2026
Each weekday, your host, Ray Hamel, concocts a challenging set of unique questions on a specific topic.
From Slate ● Jun. 12, 2023
Multicellular living matter concocts its own schemes, which means cells won't necessarily stay in the same place or state.
From Scientific American ● May 31, 2023
Madame Manec’s energy, Marie-Laure is learning, is extraordinary; she burgeons, shoots off stalks, wakes early, works late, concocts bisques without a drop of cream, loaves with less than a cup of flour.
From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr
The middle stretch has a concocted outdoor chase sequence that feels like a clumsy campground slasher.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 4, 2026
But John believes all of it to be an elaborate publicity stunt concocted by Arcane — or, at least, that’s what he tells himself.
From Salon ● Jul. 17, 2026
My favorite Father’s Day gifts are a terrible breakfast concocted by my daughters and an afternoon at the smoker where no one mentions what the ribs are doing to my arteries.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 17, 2026
In lieu of towering screens and moments concocted for capture, we find a packed dance floor and the silhouettes of two DJs putting in the work.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 26, 2026
Kaz hated a puzzle he couldn’t solve, and he and Inej had concocted a hundred theories to account for the murder—none of which satisfied.
From "Six of Crows" by Leigh Bardugo
The BBC has seen the police tapes for the first time, showing Alex concocting a fake story about his mother and grandfather's whereabouts.
From BBC ● May 13, 2026
He has gone so far as giving these agents names and concocting personal back stories for them.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 26, 2026
It’s a lot of pressure, concocting a flawless ending.
From Salon ● Dec. 17, 2024
On these topics, he has moved beyond his habit of merely concocting a false reality about, say, immigration and crime to deliberately concocting a false reality about himself.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 3, 2024
And having done so, might she obscure the fact by concocting a slight, barely clever fiction and satisfy her vanity by sending it off to a magazine?
From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan
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.
