Expedient Meaning
/ɪkˈspiːdi.ənt/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
adjSuitable to effect some desired end or the purpose intended.
adjAffording short-term benefit, often at the expense of the long-term.
Sentence Examples
Never lie if the truth is more expedient.
Most people, faced with a decision, will choose the most expedient option.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
None
CEFR Practice Quiz
Though morally questionable, the ____ solution saved the company from bankruptcy.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Although it was not the perfect solution, it was the most ____ way to handle the crisis at the time.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English expedient, from Old French expedient, from Latin expediens (stem expedient-), present participle of expedire (“to bring forward, to dispatch, to expedite; impers. to be profitable, serviceable, advantageous, expedient”), from ex (“out”) + pēs (“foot, hoof”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away; for if I go not away, the Comforter willnot come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you."
— 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, John 16:7:
"Nothing but the right can ever be the expedient, since that can never be true expediency which would sacrifice a greater good to a less."
— a. 1863, Richard Whately, Thoughts and Apophthegms:
"[T]he judges were unanimously of opinion that [...] by the common law of England, no man, not authorised by the crown, had a right to publish political news. While the Whig party was still formidable, the government thought it expedient occasionally to connive at the violation of this rule."
— 1849, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter III, in The History of England from the Accession of James II, volume I, London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC, page 389:
"That's because the debate pits textbook economics — which argues that bailouts beget bad behavior begets more bailouts — against practical politics. And politics, or the taking of expedient steps to keep people happy, will almost always win."
— 2009, CQ Weekly, volume 67, numbers 31-36, page 2190:
"Government has slowly but positively moved from an active course of following plans and policies to the easier and more expedient course of the counterpuncher."
— 2011, L. Fletcher Prouty, Jesse Ventura, The Secret Team: The CIA and Its Allies in Control of the United States and the World:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
Though morally questionable, the ____ solution saved the company from bankruptcy.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Although it was not the perfect solution, it was the most ____ way to handle the crisis at the time.