machinate

[ mak-uh-neyt ]

verb (used with or without object)

, mach·i·nat·ed, mach·i·nat·ing.

1. to contrive or plot, especially artfully or with evil purpose:

   to machinate the overthrow of the government.

machinate

/ ˈmæʃ-; ˈmækɪˌneɪt /

verb

1. usually tr to contrive, plan, or devise (schemes, plots, etc)

Derived Forms

• ˈmachiˌnator, noun

Other Words From

• machi·nator noun
• un·machi·nated adjective
• un·machi·nating adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of machinate¹

First recorded in 1540–50; from Latin māchinātus, past participle of māchinārī “to invent, contrive, devise artfully”; machine, -ate ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of machinate¹

C17: from Latin māchinārī to plan, from māchina machine

Example Sentences

“He’s been in power, he’s clung to power, he’s machinated to stay in power for all these years, and he’s an ethno-nationalist,” Levin, a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said of Netanyahu.

From Washington Post

But college enrollment had exploded in the ‘60s; there was now a mass audience eager to see itself in Benjamin, the “graduate” who steals his life back from the machinating hypocrites.

From Los Angeles Times

But my father, meanwhile, I didn’t know this at the time, was busy machinating on behalf of the United States to keep the oil flowing to the West.

From Washington Post

In an email, he wrote, “Social justice warriors machinate to get speakers canceled, and social networks purge conservatives, for the same reason: no-platforming works.”

From New York Times

Ms. Johansson defended herself by arguing that the character “has a human brain in an entirely machinate body,” and said, “I would never attempt to play a person of a different race, obviously.”

From New York Times