Arabic word sheet
مَكَرَ
To plot, to scheme against someone
- Type
- verb
- Root
- م ك ر
Meaning and usage
To plot, to scheme against someone
To deceive someone by a hidden manoeuvre, to prepare in secret what will harm him without his knowing where the blow comes from. The person targeted is introduced by a small word meaning “with” or “at”.
مَكَرَ التَّاجِرُ بِشَرِيكِهِ وَأَخَذَ الْمَالَ.
The merchant tricked his partner by a ruse and took the money.
To use stratagem, to manoeuvre skilfully
To handle an affair with calculation and skill, especially in war; in this sense cunning may be praised or blamed according to its aim.
مَكَرَ الْقَائِدُ بِالْعَدُوِّ فِي الْمَعْرَكَةِ.
The commander used a stratagem against the enemy in the battle.
Word family
What the root means م ك ر
The root’s central idea is contriving something in secret: a ruse, a hidden plan to get the better of someone. From it come “cunning”, “the schemer”, “the arch-trickster” and “the stratagem of war”.
cunning, ruse
مَكْرٌ
cunning, schemer
مَاكِرٌ
very cunning, arch-trickster
مَكَّارٌ
Synonyms
to deceive, to dupe
خَدَعَ
It names deceiving in general, by any false appearance, without the idea of a plan prepared in secret.
to plot against, to seek to harm
كَادَ
It says that one seeks to harm someone by a manoeuvre; the headword adds that one hides one’s intention by showing the contrary.
to use a trick, to find a way round
اِحْتَالَ
It says that one resorts to a roundabout means to obtain a thing or get out of a difficulty, which may be harmless.