MEANING
To devise or plot a scheme, especially one involving covert manipulation.
Use it for
Words that belong together
- machinate against a rival
- machinate a scheme
On the page
While the council debated, he machinated against the compromise.
She suspected him of machinating a scheme but had not found its object.
Nearby words
Related words
Word forms
- Base
- machinate
- Past tense
- machinated
- Past participle
- machinated
- Present participle
- machinating
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- machinate
- Present continuous
- am/is/are machinating
- Present perfect
- have/has machinated
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been machinating
- Past
- machinated
- Past continuous
- was/were machinating
- Past perfect
- had machinated
- Past perfect continuous
- had been machinating
- Future
- will machinate
- Future continuous
- will be machinating
- Future perfect
- will have machinated
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been machinating
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
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Usage notes
Primary category: literary. Forms: machinate; machinates; machinated; machinated; machinating Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Third-person singular: machinates.
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