What does complotting mean?
Complotting is the present participle of the verb 'complot', meaning to engage in a secret plot or conspiracy with others. The word entered English in the late sixteenth or seventeenth century, borrowed from the French noun 'complot', which denotes a joint secret design — often a treasonous one. In practice, complotting describes coordinated, clandestine scheming, typically by a group working toward a harmful or subversive end: courtiers complotting against a monarch, rebels complotting an insurrection, rivals complotting a downfall. Its connotations are almost invariably sinister, evoking shadowy chambers, whispered councils, and political treachery. Though grammatically standard, the word is now archaic and chiefly confined to historical writing, literary pastiche, and scholarly discussion of conspiracy in earlier eras. Readers encountering it today will usually find that 'conspiring' or 'plotting' conveys the identical idea in contemporary English, making complotting a flavorful but largely vestigial relic of the vocabulary of intrigue.
verb (present participle)The act of plotting or conspiring together secretly; complotting is the present participle of the rare verb 'complot', meaning to join in a secret scheme or plot.
- To plot or conspire together secretly; to form a joint scheme, typically for a harmful or treasonous purpose.
"The disgruntled ministers were complotting in secret to undermine the king's authority."
"The courtiers were complotting against the crown, meeting by candlelight behind locked doors."
"Historians found evidence that the nobles had been complotting for months before the uprising began."
'Complotting' sounds like a typo for 'completing' — but it's actually a centuries-old word for what villains do in the dark.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of complotting
Complotting derives from the verb 'complot', which English borrowed from the French 'complot', a noun meaning a secret, collective plot or conspiracy. The French term itself is of uncertain deeper origin, though it has been connected to elements suggesting a 'complete' or 'fully joined' design. The verb and its participial forms appeared in English during the late sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, an era rich in borrowing from French political vocabulary. It stands alongside its more successful synonym 'conspire' (from Latin roots) as a native-feeling but ultimately Gallic expression of shared intrigue.
Related word forms
How complotting is actually used
Archaic and literary in register; rarely used outside historical fiction, scholarly prose about early modern politics, or deliberately ornate writing. The far more common modern equivalents are 'conspiring' and 'plotting'.
Easily confused with complotting
'Completing' means finishing something, while 'complotting' means secretly plotting together — they share only visual similarity.
'Conspiring' is the common modern term for plotting together; 'complotting' is a rarer, more archaic synonym carrying much the same sense.