plot

UK/plɒt//plɑt/

plot noun: the course of a story, comprising a series of incidents which are gradually unfolded, sometimes by unexpected means.

Noun

plot (plural plots)

The course of a story, comprising a series of incidents which are gradually unfolded, sometimes by unexpected means.
- If the plot or intrigue must be natural, and such as springs from the subject, then the winding up of the plot must be a probable consequence of all that went before.c. 1725, Alexander Pope, View of the Epic Poem
Synonyms:

storyline
An area or land used for building on or planting on.

Synonyms:

parcel
A grave.
- He's buried in the family plot.
A ground plan, map; a nautical chart.
A sketch or outline detailing the arrangement of something; a plan.
A synopsis of a literary work.
A graph or diagram drawn by hand or produced by a mechanical or electronic device.
- I was told to fly out on a vector of 100 degrees to meet a strong plot of aircraft 30 miles from the coast.2017, Mark Chambers, Tony Holmes, Nakajima B5N ‘Kate’ and B6N ‘Jill’ Units, page 32
Synonyms:

scheme, chart, design, diagram, map, graph, graphic, plan, schematic
A secret plan to achieve an end, the end or means usually being illegal or otherwise questionable.
- The plot would have enabled them to get a majority on the board.
- The assassination of Lincoln was part of a larger plot.
Synonyms:

conspiracy, intrigue, machination, scheme
Contrivance; deep reach thought; ability to plot or intrigue.
- a man of much plota. 1669, John Denham, On Mr Thomas Killigrew's Return from Venice, and Mr William Murrey's from Scotland
Participation in any stratagem or conspiracy.
- And when Christ saith, Who marries the divorced commits adultery, it is to be understood, if he had any plot in the divorce.1643, J[ohn] M[ilton], The Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce: […], London: […] T[homas] P[aine] and M[atthew] S[immons] […], →OCLC
A plan; a purpose.
- no other plot in their religion but serve God and save their souls1651, Jer[emy] Taylor, The Rule and Exercises of Holy Living. […], 2nd edition, London: […] Francis Ashe […], →OCLC
Synonyms:

design, blueprint, plan, project, proposal, scheme
(euphemistic, slang) Attractive physical attributes of a fictional character; assets.
- Actor X has some great plot near the end of E07.

Verb

plot (third-person singular simple present plots, present participle plotting, simple past and past participle plotted)

(intransitive, transitive) To conceive (a crime, misdeed etc).
- They had plotted a robbery.
- They were plotting against the king.
Synonyms:

connive
(transitive) To trace out (a graph or diagram).
- They plotted the number of edits per day.
Synonyms:

becast
(transitive) To mark (a point on a graph, chart, etc).
- Every five minutes they plotted their position.
- This treatise plotteth down Cornwall as it now standeth.1602, Richard Carew, Survey on Cornwall

plot meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

plot in Hindi

course of a story: कथानक kathānak
area of land used for building on or planting on: भूखंड bhūkhaṇḍ
secret plan to achieve an end: षड्यंत्र ṣaḍyantra

plot in Tamil

வீட்டடி மனை, அடிமனை, சிறு நிலம், கதைத்திட்டம், சதித்திட்டம்

plot in Marathi

plot, story: कथानक kathānak
to plot or scheme: शिजवणे śij̈avaṇe

plot in Urdu

plot: کہانی kahānī
plot, terrain: تختہ taxta

More languagesFewer languages

plot in Bengali: কুমন্ত্রণা, চক্রান্ত, খণ্ড, ষড়্যন্ত্র
plot in Telugu: దురాలోచన durālōcana
plot in Malayalam: കണ്ടം, തുണ്ടുഭൂമി, പുരയിടം
plot in Kannada: ನೆಲೆ, ಅಡಿ, ಕೆಟ್ಟ ಹಮ್ಮುಗೆ, ಕತೆಯ ನೆಗಳ್ತೆ
plot in Punjabi: ਪਲਾਟ, ਪਲੋਟ, ਪਲੌਟ
plot in Gujarati: ફંદ phand
plot in Odia: ପ୍ଲଟ୍, ପ୍ଲଟ, ପ୍ଲାଟ୍
plot in Nepali: प्लट, प्लॉट, प्लट गर्न
plot in Tagalog: tunton, tuntunin
plot in Arabic: حَبْكَة ḥabka, مُؤَامَرَة muʔāmara, مَكِيدَة makīda, كَادَ kāda
plot in Indonesian: alur
plot in Thai: โครงเรื่อง kroong-rʉ̂ʉang, พล็อต plɔ́t, ที่ดิน tîi-din, แปลง bplɛɛng
plot in Vietnamese: cốt truyện

Examples of plot in a sentence

The plot is full of holes, but the narrative is extremely compelling.
The detective was puzzled by the fiendish plot to steal the diamonds.
The movie was criticized for its repetitive scenes and predictable plot.

All 40 example sentences with plot

Synonyms of plot

10 more synonymsFewer synonyms

All synonyms of plot

Forms of plot

Noun
plural	plots
Verb
third-person singular present	plots
present participle	plotting
past participle	plotted
past	plotted

Past tense of plot: plotted

Plural of plot: plots

Origin of plot

From Middle English plot, plotte, from late Old English plot (“a plot of ground”), of uncertain origin. Perhaps from Proto-Germanic *plataz, *platjaz (“a patch”); or alternatively, perhaps from a rebracketing of Old English land-splott (“small portion, or plot, of ground”) taken as landes-plot (“plot of land”). Compare Middle Low German plet (“patch, strip of cloth, rags”), German Bletz (“rags, bits, strip of land”), and possibly Gothic 𐍀𐌻𐌰𐍄 (plat, “a patch, rags”). See also plat. See also complot for an influence and reinforcement of noun sense 8. Noun sense 12 is a back-formation from for the plot.

Words formed from plot

Phrases with plot

21 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with plot

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about plot

What does plot mean?: Plot means the course of a story, comprising a series of incidents which are gradually unfolded, sometimes by unexpected means.
What is plot in Hindi?: Plot in Hindi is कथानक (kathānak), भूखंड (bhūkhaṇḍ), षड्यंत्र (ṣaḍyantra). See Plot meaning in Hindi.
What part of speech is plot?: Plot can be a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce plot?: Plot is pronounced /plɒt/ (UK).
What is the plural of plot?: The plural of plot is plots.

Words near plot in the dictionary

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-plot.ogg.

Cite this entry: “plot.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/plot. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.