scheming

1 of 2

adjective

schem·​ing ˈskē-miŋ How to pronounce scheming (audio)
Synonyms of schemingnext
: given to forming schemes
especially : devious

scheming

2 of 2

present participle of scheme entry 2

Synonyms of scheming

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Adjective

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Examples of scheming in a Sentence

Adjective the novel is about an elderly man and his scheming son who is impatient to inherit the family fortune
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Adjective
The 6-foot-2 Dysert first showed up as the scheming Sean, brother of the respectable Tom Cudahy (Richard Shoberg), on All My Children in 1979. — Mike Barnes, HollywoodReporter, 26 Oct. 2026 Meanwhile, the palace has been besieged by loutish suitors, led by the scheming Antinous (Robert Pattinson), all of them vying for the queen’s hand in remarriage and mooching off the absent king’s food and wine. — Justin Chang, New Yorker, 17 July 2026 The show gestures at the classic targets of old-timey sexism, small-mindedness, and nativism—much of it embodied by Gasteyer’s scheming character—but only in the safest possible ways. — Jackson McHenry, Vulture, 21 Apr. 2026 Blake Lively, Leighton Meester, and Chace Crawford catapulted to fame playing the scheming social butterflies flitting around Gossip Girl's Upper East Side. — Rachel Desantis, Entertainment Weekly, 6 Apr. 2026 See All Example Sentences for scheming

Word History

First Known Use

Adjective

1741, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of scheming was in 1741

Rhymes for scheming

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Browse Nearby Words

schemery
scheming
schemist
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Cite this Entry

“Scheming.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/scheming. Accessed 1 Nov. 2026.

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Kids Definition

scheming

adjective
schem·​ing
ˈskē-miŋ
: being in the habit of forming schemes
especially : sneaky, deceptive
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