Definition

1. Verb:
   • To devise or invent something, often a story, plan, or excuse, in a clever or deceptive way: To create something, typically a complex or false idea, through mental effort.
   • To prepare or make something, especially food or drink, by combining various ingredients: To mix different components together to create a new substance or dish.

Examples of Usage

• Verb (to invent):
  • The writer concocted an elaborate fantasy world for her novel.
  • He quickly concocted an excuse for being late.
• Verb (to prepare by mixing):
  • The bartender concocted a delicious new cocktail.
  • She concocted a herbal remedy from plants in her garden.

Advanced Usage

• "to concoct a scheme/plot": to invent a secret and often dishonest plan.
  • The villains concocted a scheme to steal the jewels.
• "to concoct a theory": to formulate a speculative explanation.
  • The detective concocted a theory about the crime based on very little evidence.

Variants and Related Words

• Concoction (n): Something that has been concocted, especially a mixture of ingredients.
  • The soup was a strange concoction of leftovers.
• Concocter (n): A person who concocts something.

Synonyms

• Devise: To plan or invent by careful thought.
• Fabricate: To invent or create something, typically with deceitful intent.
• Brew: To make a drink by mixing, steeping, or boiling ingredients (closely related to the 'prepare' meaning).
• Contrive: To create or bring about by deliberate use of skill or artifice.

Related Phrasal Verbs

(Note: "Concoct" is not commonly used with particles to form standard phrasal verbs. Its meanings are typically expressed directly.)

Related Idioms

• "To concoct out of thin air": To invent something without any basis in fact.
  • The entire scandal seemed to be concocted out of thin air.

Verb

1. devise or invent
   • He thought up a plan to get rich quickly
   • no-one had ever thought of such a clever piece of software
2. invent
   • trump up charges
3. prepare or cook by mixing ingredients
   • concoct a strange mixture
4. make a concoction (of) by mixing