schemer

American  

[skee-mer] / ˈski mər /

noun

1. someone who devises plans or plots, especially underhanded ones.

   She is one of the memorable characters in literature, a born schemer and social climber unencumbered by any need to tell the truth.

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Etymology

Origin of schemer

scheme ( def. ) + -er ¹

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

schemer

She won her first film role in 1963’s “13 Frightened Girls” as a diplomat’s daughter but found greater renown as a backstabbing schemer on the ABC soap “Peyton Place” a few years later.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 16, 2026

Duer was also an inveterate speculator and get-rich-quick schemer: “king of the alley,” as Thomas Jefferson derisively referred External link to Wall Street.

From Barron's ● Mar. 1, 2026

The past six Super Bowls have all had one thing in common: Every head coach had built his career as a schemer on offense.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 5, 2026

There may be no better time for a schemer like Ashur to be resurrected from the underworld.

From Salon ● Dec. 7, 2025

Miraculously, Oskar Schindler, this complex man of many contradictions—Nazi opportunist, schemer, courageous maverick, rescuer, hero—had saved nearly 1,200 Jews from almost certain death.

From "The Boy on the Wooden Box" by Leon Leyson

Related Words

• rascal
• rogue