schemenoun [ C ]
uk/skiːm/us/skiːm/an organized plan for doing something, especially something dishonest or illegal that will bring a good result for you:
He has a hare-brained/crazy scheme for getting rich before he's 20.
B2 mainly UK an officially organized plan or system:
Under the current marking/mark scheme, you need 90 percent to get an A.
a training/housing/play scheme
a pension/savings scheme
There's a new scheme in our town for recycling plastic bottles.
Class sizes will increase under the new scheme.
More examples
- The scheme is simple and cheap to operate.
- She's come up with some amazing scheme to double her income.
- The scheme was launched a year ago.
- a management training scheme
- The scheme is devised for young people in the 15 - 20 age band.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Plotting & trapping
- be in league with sb idiom
- cahoots
- catch sb out
- chicanery
- cloak-and-dagger
- conspiratorial
- conspire
- entrap
- entrapment
- hatch
- have a card up your sleeve idiom
- plot
- plotter
- pretext
- put-up job
- set-up
- snare
- sting
- stratagem
- trap
See more results »
You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:
Planning, expecting and arranging
Idiom(s)
the scheme of things
schemeverb [ I or T ]
uk/skiːm/us/skiːm/disapprovingto make clever, secret plans that often deceive others:
All her assistants were scheming against her.
[ + to infinitive ] For months he had been scheming to prevent her from getting the top job.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Plotting & trapping
- be in league with sb idiom
- cahoots
- catch sb out
- chicanery
- cloak-and-dagger
- conspiratorial
- conspire
- entrap
- entrapment
- hatch
- have a card up your sleeve idiom
- plot
- plotter
- pretext
- put-up job
- set-up
- snare
- sting
- stratagem
- trap
See more results »
schemer
noun [ C ] uk/ˈskiː.mər/us/ˈskiː.mɚ/disapproving
He's a schemer who always finds a way of getting what he wants.
scheming
adjective uk/ˈskiː.mɪŋ/us/ˈskiː.mɪŋ/disapproving
a secretive and scheming politician