as in to devise
to create or think of by clever use of the imagination
cooked up a scheme to get out of doing the dishes
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cook (up)
Verb
-
So that problematic defense has come around, thanks to whatever Mike Brown, his coaching staff and the players have devised or re-emphasized together.—
Zach Harper,
New York Times,
2 Feb. 2026 -
As the child incessantly cries day and night, Henry begins to have surreal visions that only an innovative mind like Lynch's could devise.—
Kevin Jacobsen,
Entertainment Weekly,
31 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
Is Mark Zuckerberg constructing a gold mine or a financial sinkhole?—
Trefis Team,
Forbes.com,
29 Jan. 2026
-
Mas, the bestselling author of the Villains of Lore and Psycho Shifters series, has a strong historical background to help construct her atmospheric settings.—
Carly Tagen-Dye,
PEOPLE,
28 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
Before Bridgegate, there was Tollgate in 2011, when Baroni went behind the back of the executive director to conspire with Christie to concoct a phony and fantastically too high 50% toll hike plan, that Christie could knock back and be the hero.—
New York Daily News Editorial Board,
New York Daily News,
26 Jan. 2026
-
Prosecutors say Brendan Banfield concocted an elaborate scheme to kill his wife, Christine Banfield, and another man, Joseph Ryan, in their family home in February 2023.—
Lauren del Valle,
CNN Money,
23 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
Little would the playwright have imagined that something yet to be invented called social media would one day be more powerful than swords, bullets and bombs.—
Sandeep Gopalan,
Baltimore Sun,
3 Feb. 2026
-
Ancient Greek astronomers made important observations regarding the night sky long before the first telescope was invented in the 1600s.—
Chris Young,
Interesting Engineering,
3 Feb. 2026
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Cite this Entry
“Cook (up).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cook%20%28up%29. Accessed 4 Feb. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
