Definition of EXPEDIENT

Choose the Right Synonym for expedient

Adjective

expedient, politic, advisable mean dictated by practical or prudent motives. expedient usually implies what is immediately advantageous without regard for ethics or consistent principles. a politically expedient decision politic stresses judiciousness and tactical value but usually implies some lack of candor or sincerity. a politic show of interest advisable applies to what is practical, prudent, or advantageous but lacks the derogatory implication of expedient and politic. sometimes it's advisable to say nothing

Noun

resource, resort, expedient, shift, makeshift, stopgap mean something one turns to in the absence of the usual means or source of supply. resource and resort apply to anything one falls back upon. exhausted all of their resources a last resort expedient may apply to any device or contrivance used when the usual one is not at hand or not possible. a flimsy expedient shift implies a tentative or temporary imperfect expedient. desperate shifts to stave off foreclosure makeshift implies an inferior expedient adopted because of urgent need or allowed through indifference. old equipment employed as a makeshift stopgap applies to something used temporarily as an emergency measure. a new law intended only as a stopgap

Examples of expedient in a Sentence

Adjective

Marley found it expedient to maintain social relationships with gunmen and politicans from both political parties. — Robert Palmer, Rolling Stone, 24 Feb. 1994 The marble floor … gave the hall the aspect of a cathedral, and the walls were decorated with aphorisms such as Cicero's THE WELFARE OF THE PEOPLE IS THE HIGHEST LAW, a phrase he found curiously—or at least potentially—expedient in what was certainly designed as a temple to the idea of law. — Tom Clancy, Patriot Games, 1987 Under political pressure and at the urging of Jefferson, Madison finally (but grudgingly) admitted that a bill of rights might help, over time, to instill in the people a greater respect for "the fundamental maxims of free government." But even as he was shepherding the first amendments through Congress, in 1789, he privately described them (amazingly enough) as a "nauseous project," required only for expedient reasons of politics. — Jack N. Rakove, Atlantic, December 1986 They found it expedient to negotiate with the terrorists. Do the right thing, not the expedient thing.

Noun

In 1882, racing to meet the deadline on Life on the Mississippi, he [Mark Twain] boasted to W. D. Howells that he had managed to churn out 9,500 words in a day, having resorted to the old hack's expedient of copying out large chunks from other people's books … — Jonathan Raban, Times Literary Supplement, 21–27 Sept. 1990 The Viet Cong taught the peasants to dig cave shelters under the sleeping platforms rural Vietnamese cover with mats of woven straw and use as beds. This expedient gave the peasants a handy shelter right inside the house, unless that house happened to be one of those set afire by the napalm or the white phosphorus, called Willy Peter in U.S. military idiom. — Neil Sheehan, A Bright Shining Lie, 1988 For government is an expedient, by which men would fain succeed in letting one another alone; and, as has been said, when it is most expedient, the governed are most let alone by it. — Henry David Thoreau, "Civil Disobedience," 1849 For it is plain that every word we speak is in some degree a diminution of our lungs by corrosion, and consequently contributes to the shortening of our lives. An expedient was therefore offered, that since words are only names for things, it would be more convenient for all men to carry about them such things as were necessary to express the particular business they are to discourse on. — Jonathan Swift, Gulliver's Travels, 1726 The government chose short-term expedients instead of a real economic policy. We can solve this problem by the simple expedient of taking out another loan.

Recent Examples on the Web: Adjective

Yet, as the report detailed, the issue of safe streets often remains a low priority, sidelined in favor of politically expedient campaigns to build new roads, and even considered a barrier to efforts to reduce gridlock, congestion, and drive times. — Patrick Sisson, Curbed, "Safer roads in cities are possible, but politics holding us back, says report," 23 Mar. 2018 Since Hilcorp discovered and reported the leak, the company has been working closely with environmental experts and consultants in close coordination with regulators to shut in the leak in a safe and expedient fashion. — Kara Moriarty, Alaska Dispatch News, "Reaction to Hilcorp gas leak ignores history," 13 Mar. 2017 Many legal experts have suggested that the most expedient way to provide reparations to Guatemalan victims is through legislation rather than litigation, perhaps via a public fund such as the one for victims of Tuskegee or 9/11 first responders. — Sushma Subramanian, Slate Magazine, "Worse Than Tuskegee," 26 Feb. 2017 Mr. Kaplinsky and other backers of arbitration argue that the private legal system is a more expedient way to resolve disputes. — Jessica Silver-greenberg And Michael Corkery, New York Times, "What an Arbitration Clause Looks Like," 5 May 2016 So this isn’t at all the cheap or expedient way to go, and for that the Yorks have to be credited after going cheap or expedient in so many previous important moments. — Tim Kawakami, The Mercury News, "A bungled start to the 49ers’ new era–the Yorks fire Baalke and Kelly, and it’s just as awkward as ever," 1 Jan. 2017 The facts no longer matter, only what is politically expedient, sensationalistic, and designed to confirm the preexisting opinions of a large audience. — The Washington Post, The Mercury News, "Roger Ailes, architect of conservative TV juggernaut Fox, is dead at 77," 18 May 2017 But one wishes here, as elsewhere, that Johnson Sirleaf’s biographer would reckon directly with the president’s responsibility for her more expedient choices, rather than depicting her as a victim of circumstance. — Jina Moore, New York Times, "A Woman in Charge: A Biography of Liberia’s President," 17 Mar. 2017 Moore repeatedly exposed himself to intense hostile fire to insure the proper and expedient deployment of friendly troops. — The Washington Post, The Denver Post, "Hal Moore, Army general in “We Were Soldiers,” Crested Butte executive dies at 94," 14 Feb. 2017

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun

Heinrich, with youthful looks at age 46, has turned his committee appointments, including Armed Services, into a venue for expedient constituent politics in support of the New Mexico’s military facilities and veterans. — Morgan Lee, The Seattle Times, "Libertarian says Trump, Democrats need a swing-vote senator," 9 Oct. 2018 Conway’s reframing of the situation is politically expedient. — Tara Isabella Burton, Vox, "Kellyanne Conway blamed synagogue shootings on “anti-religiosity”," 29 Oct. 2018 Other action films have similarly explored the idea that holding onto an ethos isn’t expedient for a hero — perhaps most notably in Daniel Craig’s take on James Bond. — Bryan Bishop, The Verge, "In Mission: Impossible - Fallout, being the good guy has serious consequences," 27 July 2018 Ingenious field-expedient solutions to provide more detection and better identification are a smart way to protect Americans. — Allison Barrie, Fox News, "Innovative project harnesses Legos and smartphones in the fight against invisible, deadly weapons," 13 July 2018 He was elected for a third consecutive term in 2016 by the expedient of banning the main opposition candidate. — The Economist, "Daniel Ortega is causing a bloodbath in Nicaragua," 12 July 2018 Cubs TV play-by-play announcer Len Kasper and radio marvel Pat Hughes are terrific at reporting such things in an expedient manner. — Steve Rosenbloom, chicagotribune.com, "Hey, MLB, order your umps to explain video reviews," 31 May 2018 But a measure made expedient by war is no precedent for times of peace. — Chris Stirewalt, Fox News, "Like Bush and Obama, Trump gets stuck on immigration," 21 June 2018 In moments like these, complaints about tribalism can be politically expedient — a way of making even the most consequential debate seem like a mere spat between loyalists on either side. — Laila Lalami, New York Times, "Does American ‘Tribalism’ End in a Compromise, or a Fight?," 26 June 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'expedient.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.