scheme
- a plan, design, or program of action to be followed; project.
- an underhand plot; intrigue.
- a visionary or impractical project.
- a body or system of related doctrines, theories, etc.: a scheme of philosophy.
- any system of correlated things, parts, etc., or the manner of its arrangement.
- a plan, program, or policy officially adopted and followed, as by a government or business: The company's pension scheme is very successful.
- an analytical or tabular statement.
- a diagram, map, or the like.
- an astrological diagram of the heavens.
- to devise as a scheme; plan; plot; contrive.
- to lay schemes; devise plans; plot.
Origin of scheme
Synonyms
See more synonyms for scheme on Thesaurus.comSynonym study
Examples from the Web for schemer
Contemporary Examples
Is that mass of cream cheese you put on a bagel a schemer or a shmeer?
And, second, how can he bust a drug dealer and a Ponzi schemer without endangering Rita and Mitzi?
In the strange case of alleged Ponzi schemer Allen Stanford, a new bit player has emerged.
Historical Examples
I did it, I presume, simply because I'm a schemer at heart, and I knew it would work.
The Fortune HunterLouis Joseph Vance
I'm a schemer too, Mister Asgill, only—one at a time, one at a time!
The Wild GeeseStanley John Weyman
Circumstances have made me, as you see, a politician, a schemer if you like.
Mr. Grex of Monte CarloE. Phillips Oppenheim
The woman could not have been so deep a schemer in those days.
Madeline Payne, the Detective's DaughterLawrence L. Lynch
It is the contriver, the schemer, who is caught by the Law, and never the philosopher.
The Day's Work, Volume 1Rudyard Kipling
scheme
- a systematic plan for a course of action
- a systematic arrangement of correlated parts; system
- a secret plot
- a visionary or unrealizable project
- a chart, diagram, or outline
- an astrological diagram giving the aspects of celestial bodies at a particular time
- mainly British a plan formally adopted by a commercial enterprise or governmental body, as for pensions, etc
- mainly Scot an area of housing that is laid out esp by a local authority; estate
- (tr) to devise a system for
- to form intrigues (for) in an underhand manner
Word Origin
Word Origin and History for schemer
n.
1724, "a contriver, plotter," agent noun from scheme (v.).
scheme
n.
1550s, "figure of speech," from Medieval Latin schema "shape, figure, form, appearance; figure of speech; posture in dancing," from Greek skhema (genitive skhematos) "figure, appearance, the nature of a thing," related to skhein "to get," and ekhein "to have," from PIE root *segh- "to hold, to hold in one's power, to have" (cf. Sanskrit sahate "he masters, overcomes," sahah "power, victory;" Avestan hazah "power, victory;" Greek ekhein "to have, hold;" Gothic sigis, Old High German sigu, Old Norse sigr, Old English sige "victory").
The sense "program of action" first is attested 1640s. Unfavorable overtones (selfish, devious) began to creep in early 18c. Meaning "complex unity of coordinated component elements" is from 1736. Color scheme is attested from 1884.
scheme
v.
"devise a scheme," 1767 (earlier "reduce to a scheme," 1716), from scheme (n.). Related: Schemed; scheming.
Idioms and Phrases with schemer
scheme
see best-laid plans (schemes).