Synonyms of schemes

schemes 1 of 2

noun

plural of scheme

1

as in ruses

a clever often underhanded means to achieve an end

an e-mail scheme to trick unwary Internet users into disclosing passwords and financial information

Synonyms & Similar Words

• ruses
• devices
• tricks
• stratagems
• artifices
• gambits
• ploys
• shenanigans
• wiles
• sleights of hand
• jigs
• sleights
• gimmicks
• dodges
• plays
• juggles
• knacks
• fetches
• deceptions
• subterfuges
• trickeries
• bluffs
• duplicities
• flimflams
• chicaneries
• hoaxes
• feints
• frauds
• swindles
• end runs
• cunnings
• crafts
• juggleries
• duperies
• fakeries
• skulduggeries
• cozenages
• crookeries
• fronts
• legerdemains
• gaffs
• smoke screens
• shams
• blinds

2

as in plots

a secret plan for accomplishing evil or unlawful ends

a scheme to kidnap the president's daughter

Synonyms & Similar Words

• plots
• conspiracies
• machinations
• intrigues
• strategies
• designs
• subterfuges
• trickeries
• manipulations
• stratagems
• maneuvers
• counterplots
• artifices
• programs
• systems
• contrivances
• cabals
• frame-ups
• rackets
• confederacies
• dodges
• counterconspiracies
• collusions
• drafts
• ground plans
• gimmicks
• tricks
• complicities
• rings
• cover-ups
• games
• connivances
• conspirations

3

as in plans

a method worked out in advance for achieving some objective

a scheme to upgrade the city's mass transit system

Synonyms & Similar Words

• plans
• strategies
• blueprints
• programs
• projects
• systems
• designs
• arrangements
• proposals
• games
• ideas
• ways
• procedures
• master plans
• techniques
• recipes
• ground plans
• devices
• game plans
• plots
• road maps
• policies
• tactics
• purposes
• conspiracies
• intentions
• stratagems
• maneuvers
• protocols
• subterfuges
• specifications
• contrivances
• intents
• ruses
• means
• collusions
• tricks
• aims
• maps
• gambits
• formulas
• conceptions
• counterplans
• patterns
• diagrams
• platforms
• counterstrategies
• setups
• specifics
• layouts
• projets

schemes

2 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of scheme

as in intrigues

to engage in a secret plan to accomplish evil or unlawful ends

the town inspector had schemed to overlook the contractor's code violations in exchange for a substantial bribe

Synonyms & Similar Words

• plots
• plans
• intrigues
• connives
• conspires
• contrives
• colludes
• devises
• designs
• engineers
• machinates
• hatches
• concocts
• maps
• maneuvers
• compasses
• counterplots
• manipulates
• shapes
• brews
• cooks (up)
• puts up
• frames
• jockeys
• lays out

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of schemes

Noun

Curious schemes, plus bad tackling, contributed to a unit that was poor against the pass, and worse against the run. — Mac Engel october 4, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 4 Oct. 2026

Other schemes are more direct—like a new version of the Nigerian prince scam that uses celebrity deepfakes. — Maxwell Adler, Vanity Fair, 2 Oct. 2026

Europe’s patchwork of national payment schemes—iDEAL in the Netherlands, Bizum in Spain, Blik in Poland—has resulted in different checkout experiences in each market. — Sam Birchall, Fortune, 1 Oct. 2026

The same phenomenon applies to minimalist interiors in independent coffee shops, all-neutral home decorating schemes and the uniformity of facial features and bodies on screen. — Harmeet Kaur, CNN Money, 1 Oct. 2026

It was described as one of the largest new woodland planting schemes in southern England that year and became known as May’s Wood. — Jordan Greene, PEOPLE, 1 Oct. 2026

The country must therefore eliminate schemes, such as a kickback scheme at the state nuclear operator exposed in November 2025, that are unrelated to defense spending but capable of triggering major corruption scandals. — Dmytro Kuleba, Foreign Affairs, 30 Sep. 2026

What court records say Rankin’s conviction stemmed from a sprawling federal mortgage fraud case involving numerous defendants and several alleged schemes operating in Mecklenburg and surrounding counties in the early 2000s. — Charlotte Observer, 30 Sep. 2026

Meanwhile, frontier labs are pushing forward with their own self-regulatory schemes, which will ask them to agree on testing standards in a highly competitive environment. — Ashley Gold, semafor.com, 25 Sep. 2026

Verb

Marty, who was loosely based on real-life ping-pong legend Marty Reisman, schemes his way to competitions across the globe and hustles for pocket cash. — Randall Colburn, Entertainment Weekly, 9 Mar. 2026

Joy Randolph, follows a desperate gallery owner (Portman) who schemes to sell a dead man as art at Art Basel in Miami. — Erin Clack, PEOPLE, 26 Jan. 2026

Chalamet embodies Marty’s arrant showmanship with an evident joy in performance, exactly as Marty himself schemes not only shamelessly but jubilantly. — Richard Brody, New Yorker, 19 Dec. 2025

Matthew quickly schemes his way into Oliver’s orbit after that first performance, impressing and rankling the group of lackeys in his entourage at the same time. — Eric Torres, Pitchfork, 27 Aug. 2025