as in immoral
not guided by or showing a concern for what is right
yet another tale of a power-mad dictator with a Machiavellian plan to take over the world
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for Machiavellian
Adjective
-
More and more people are avoiding dating or befriending those with opposing political views, and growing numbers describe those on the other side as closed-minded, dishonest, immoral and unintelligent.—
Justin Callais,
Twin Cities,
5 Mar. 2026 -
More and more people are avoiding dating or befriending those with opposing political views, and growing numbers describe those on the other side as closed-minded, dishonest, immoral and unintelligent.—
Justin Callais,
Chicago Tribune,
2 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
There’s also just one overwhelming evil force in this play — the Nazis — whereas Dumas had his musketeers fighting not just ruthless government officials but royalty, religious leaders and nobles.—
Christopher Arnott,
Hartford Courant,
11 Mar. 2026
-
With a lesser interpreter in the role, Eva might have read more reductively as just a ruthless bureaucratic leader.—
David Rooney,
HollywoodReporter,
10 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
And right now, these corrupt billionaires, these greedy corporations, are determining all avenues of our life, all types of policies.—
Jim DeFede,
CBS News,
15 Mar. 2026
-
Just as all British became painted as corrupt as part of their national character, so too did all Native people become seen as savage by their biological nature.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
13 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
Building collapses are common in Nairobi, where housing is in high demand and unscrupulous developers often bypass regulations or simply violate building codes.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
16 Mar. 2026
-
According to investigative reports, unscrupulous lawyers collude with medical mills and lawsuit financiers to recruit immigrants and people experiencing homelessness to orchestrate accidents, arrange unnecessary surgeries and cash in on inflated settlements.—
Voice of the People,
New York Daily News,
7 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
How pathetically far this blithering, unprincipled piece of trash has gone to endanger other lives, to expressly distract and deflect from his own wicked deeds, and to further benefit his grifting family’s larcenously enlarged bounties.—
Voice of the People,
New York Daily News,
8 Mar. 2026
-
In every era a certain kind of unprincipled demagogue driven by an insatiable need for attention and a sense of what will capture the public’s imagination rises to the fore.—
Mark Lilla,
The New York Review of Books,
5 Mar. 2026
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Cite this Entry
“Machiavellian.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/Machiavellian. Accessed 18 Mar. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
