Meaning & use
calculating
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Meanings
adjectivecomparabledisapproving
Planning each step carefully so as to get what you want, often in a cold or selfish way.
Grammar: Comes before a noun or after a verb: a calculating manager; she is calculating. It usually describes people or their manner.
Patterns
- a calculating person
- calculating about something
She gave him a calculating look before answering the offer.
He was a calculating man who always thought three steps ahead.
The villain in the film is cold and calculating.
verbtransitive
Present participle of calculate: working out an amount or result using numbers.
Grammar: Takes an object: she is calculating the cost; also used as a progressive form: they were calculating the odds.
Patterns
- calculate something
- be calculating something
He sat at the table calculating the monthly bills.
The team was calculating the amount of fuel needed for the trip.
The software keeps calculating the totals as you type.
adjectivebefore a nounold-fashioned
Used for a machine or tool that does arithmetic, as in a calculating machine.
Grammar: Before a noun and mainly historical: a calculating machine; a modern device is a calculator.
Patterns
- a calculating machine
The museum has an early calculating machine with brass gears.
Office workers used a calculating machine before computers.
The calculating device could multiply large numbers.
Word forms
| comparative | more calculating |
|---|---|
| superlative | most calculating |
Common combinations
- cold and calculating
- The detective described the thief as cold and calculating.
- calculating look
- He gave the offer a calculating look.
- calculating mind
- She had a calculating mind that missed nothing.
- calculating risk
- The company took a calculating approach to risk.
- calculating machine
- The old calculating machine sat on the shelf.
Synonyms and how they differ
- scheming
- Scheming suggests secretly planning to deceive, which is harsher than calculating, which may only mean careful and self-interested.
- shrewd
- Shrewd is usually admiring and means clever about money or people, while calculating is critical.
- cunning
- Cunning stresses clever trickery, whereas calculating stresses cold planning.
- manipulative
- Manipulative focuses on controlling other people for your own gain, and it is stronger than calculating.
Opposites
Word family
- calculate verb
- to find an amount or result by using numbers, or to plan carefully
- calculation noun
- a process of working something out with numbers, or careful planning
- calculator noun
- a device used for doing arithmetic
- incalculable adjective
- too great to be measured
Commonly confused: calculating or calculated? calculating or calculable?
calculating vs calculated
Calculated describes a risk or insult that was planned deliberately, which is not always negative, while calculating describes the cold character of a person.
calculating vs calculable
Calculable means able to be worked out, not describing a person's character.
Practice
The business partner was so _____ that he planned every friendly gesture to win contracts.
Choose one answer.
Calculating describes a person who plans coldly for advantage. 'Calculated' normally describes an action or risk, not a person, and the other options do not fit the sentence.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “calculating”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.