machination

noun

mach·​i·​na·​tion ˌma-kə-ˈnā-shən 

ˌma-shə-

1

: an act of machinating

2

: a scheming or crafty action or artful design intended to accomplish some usually evil end

backstage machinations … that have dominated the film industry

—Peter Bogdanovich

Synonyms

• conspiracy
• design
• intrigue
• plot
• scheme

Choose the Right Synonym for machination

plot, intrigue, machination, conspiracy, cabal mean a plan secretly devised to accomplish an evil or treacherous end.

plot implies careful foresight in planning a complex scheme.

an assassination plot

intrigue suggests secret underhanded maneuvering in an atmosphere of duplicity.

backstairs intrigue

machination implies a contriving of annoyances, injuries, or evils by indirect means.

the machinations of a party boss

conspiracy implies a secret agreement among several people usually involving treason or great treachery.

a conspiracy to fix prices

cabal typically applies to political intrigue involving persons of some eminence.

a cabal among powerful senators

Examples of machination in a Sentence

incredibly complicated machinations to assassinate the president that inevitably failed

Recent Examples on the Web

In the season premier of the Quartz Obsession podcast — Drug Names: The machinations behind the monikers — Quartz reporter Bruce Gil tells host Rocio Fabbro all about the art and science of drug naming. —Morgan Haefner, Quartz, 20 June 2024

There was no rampant voter fraud in the 2020 election, and people such as Stange — encouraged by the Trump campaign to show up at polling places to uproot it — ended up seeing nothing but the normal, dull machinations of an orderly voting process. —Philip Bump, Washington Post, 17 June 2024

After Bryant and O’Neal had finally become Lakers, thanks to months of his machinations, he was hospitalized for treatment of nervous fatigue. —Mike Kupper, Los Angeles Times, 12 June 2024

DeWine should push to have a clean bill, and his is the right attitude to have; the constant political machinations around voting and elections, predominantly infecting today’s GOP, are now so common as to seem pedestrian. —New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 28 May 2024

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1