schemer

[skee-mer]

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.

Word History and Origins

Origin of schemer¹

scheme ( def. ) + -er ¹

Example Sentences

Efforts around the country to prosecute even those low-level schemers, cheaters and 2020 election miscreants have produced mixed results.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

But Rachel is no shrinking violet, holding her own against lowlifes and schemers while navigating the movie’s unexpected turns, shocking violence and wrenching tension.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

“The old schemer was hiding in the woods. I flushed him out of the bushes like a hound flushes out a fox. A merry hunt it was, wouldn’t you say, Eddie, old boy?”

Read more on Literature

“One schemer has been outschemed by another, it appears. Sounds like justice to me. But let us not forget: This young rogue needs to account for himself, too.”

Read more on Literature

It seems my father and my pooch, two savvy schemers, had hatched a plan back in Charlotte.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• rascal 
• rogue