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
She succeeds Joe Vernachio, who was appointed in 2024 to help orchestrate a turnaround for the struggling sneaker brand.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 17, 2026
After being installed in his new post, Sonko promised to "not use this responsibility to orchestrate institutional chaos, to create an institutional crisis, or to cause problems for the president of the republic".
From Barron's ● May 26, 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
By “duty,” Jefferson meant his obligation to orchestrate the opposition to Adams’s presidency.
From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis
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
Tommy Dorsey orchestrates a soundtrack for his dreams.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 7, 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
Khamenei’s funeral is orchestrated to echo that foundational story.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 8, 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
Mommy’s house was orchestrated chaos and as the eighth of twelve children, I was lost in the sauce, so to speak.
From "The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother" by James McBride
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
"The Propaganda and Agitation Department played a significantly important role in orchestrating a series of processes that naturally transferred respect for Kim Il Sung to Kim Jong Un," Cheong says.
From BBC ● May 5, 2026
With eyebrows furrowed, she leaned into the decks, spinning an operatic techno mashup from the turntables and orchestrating the ebb and flow of fans’ bodies.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 21, 2026
“AI is at this point no longer just some chatbot that we ask for a recipe while we stand in front of the fridge. It’s orchestrating tasks, it’s getting smarter,” Pouladian said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 13, 2026
Somewhere, probably in the shadows, Jake and Emma’s mom was orchestrating all the action over her headset.
From "The Smartest Kid in the Universe" by Chris Grabenstein
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.
