scheming

[skee-ming]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR scheming ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

given to making plans, especially sly and underhand ones; crafty.

Origin of scheming

First recorded in 1830–40; scheme + -ing²

Related formsschem·ing·ly, adverbun·schem·ing, adjective

Synonyms for scheming

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR scheming ON THESAURUS.COM

artful, calculating, cunning.

scheme

[skeem]

noun

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.

verb (used with object), schemed, schem·ing.

to devise as a scheme; plan; plot; contrive.

verb (used without object), schemed, schem·ing.

to lay schemes; devise plans; plot.

Origin of scheme

1545–55; < Medieval Latin schēma (stem schēmat-) < Greek schêma form, figure

Related formsscheme·less, adjectiveschem·er, nounout·scheme, verb (used with object), out·schemed, out·schem·ing.sub·scheme, nounun·der·scheme, nounun·schemed, adjective

Synonyms for scheme

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR scheme ON THESAURUS.COM

2. stratagem, cabal, conspiracy. 5. pattern, schema.

Synonym study

1, 6. See plan. 10. See plot.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for scheming

duplicitous, wily, calculating, crafty, conniving, designing, artful, cunning, foxy, slippery, tricky, underhand

Examples from the Web for scheming

Contemporary Examples of scheming

Even the most sketch-ball, scheming car mechanic knows how much those brake pads cost.
‘Code Black’: An M.D. on How to Fix Our Emergency Room Crisis
Ryan McGarry
June 20, 2014
Mordred is a slave to his lust for the Queen, finding no outlet for his thwarted energies except in scheming action.
Tolkien’s Unfinished Epic: ‘The Fall of Arthur’
John Garth
May 23, 2013
Mantel, unfortunately, repeats the “scheming Anne” portrayal in her own novels.
Why Does Anne Boleyn Obsess Us?
Lauren Elkin
April 25, 2013
The goal of my book is to empower people to see through this scheming.
What’s in Your Food? Michael Moss Reveals the Food Industry’s Secrets
Michael Moss
March 24, 2013
We still have enemies who spend every waking hour scheming of ways to blow up that mall of imagined peacetime.
Those Who Lost Loved Ones on 9/11 Cannot Forget and Neither Should America
Michael Daly
September 10, 2012

Historical Examples of scheming

He's been scheming, ever since I told him you were coming, to get out of driving in to meet you.
Chip, of the Flying U
B. M. Bower
Why, you've got all Nature on your side, plotting and scheming for you.
The Trimming of Goosie
James Hopper
The Carlists were scheming, and the Cortes was driven to an immediate decision.
A Short History of Spain
Mary Platt Parmele
He had been wondering and scheming how to compel the Spokesmen of the Gens to obey his will.
Astounding Stories of Super-Science July 1930
Various
You know he has been scheming all along to take her from you.
Bloom of Cactus
Robert Ames Bennet

British Dictionary definitions for scheming

scheming

adjective

given to making plots; cunning

noun

intrigues

Derived Formsschemingly, adverb

scheme

noun

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

verb

(tr) to devise a system for

to form intrigues (for) in an underhand manner

Derived Formsschemer, noun

Word Origin for scheme

C16: from Latin schema, from Greek skhēma form

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for scheming

scheme

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

"devise a scheme," 1767 (earlier "reduce to a scheme," 1716), from scheme (n.). Related: Schemed; scheming.

Idioms and Phrases with scheming

scheme

see best-laid plans (schemes).