machinate means to devise a plot or secret plan; to conspire. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 87 out of 100.
machinate is pronounced /ˈmækɪneɪt/.
Why “machinate” is a great word
MACHINATE — [Verb] To devise a secret and often cunning plot or scheme, especially for a harmful or illicit purpose. From Latin māchinārī ("to invent, devise; to scheme, plot"), from māchina ("machine, contrivance, device, scheme"), itself from Ancient Greek mākhanḗ ("machine, device, means"). First attested in English in 1537. Unlike "conspire," which implies a joint, secret pact, or "plan," a neutral term for any course of action, to machinate is the solitary, intricate engineering of a plot. It is the soundless calibration of levers in a darkened room, the patient alignment of dominoes meant to fall years hence, the careful falsification of a single ledger entry—the cold architecture of malice, assembled one calculated piece at a time.
Etymology
First attested in 1537; borrowed from Latin machinātus, perfect active participle of machinor (“to invent, devise; to scheme, plot”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from māchina (“machine, contrivance, device, scheme”), an early borrowing from Ancient Greek. See also machine.
verb
- To devise a plot or secret plan; to conspire.“Had she already managed to machinate a cushy job for her husband?”