Machination

//ˌmækɪˈneɪʃən// noun

noun ·Uncommon ·College level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A clever scheme or artful plot, usually crafted for evil purposes. countable, in-plural, uncountable

    "Machinations, hollowneſſe, treacherie, and all ruinous diſorders follow vs diſquietly to our Graues."

  2. 2
    a crafty and involved plot to achieve your (usually sinister) ends wordnet
  3. 3
    The act of machinating or plotting. countable, uncountable

Synonyms

All synonyms
conspiracyintrigueartificebehind-the-scenes influencecabalchicane

Example

More examples

"Machinations, hollowneſſe, treacherie, and all ruinous diſorders follow vs diſquietly to our Graues."

Etymology

From Middle English machynacion, machynacyon, from Middle French machination and directly Latin māchinātiōnem, from māchinor (“devise, invent”). By surface analysis, machinate + -ion or machine + -ation.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.