Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for Machiavellian
Adjective
  • Even children and adolescents express more willingness to shun and punish moral transgressors than people who do something personally obnoxious or offensive but not immoral.
    Jen Cole Wright, The Conversation, 14 Apr. 2025
  • Regardless of what transpired between the two cast members, on or off screen, Aspen was unfairly portrayed as an immoral character.
    Taylor Crumpton, Essence, 11 Apr. 2025
Adjective
  • There is the ruthless spymaster Luthen Rael (Stellan Skarsgård) and his mysterious assistant Kleya (Elizabeth Dulau).
    Erik Kain, Forbes.com, 21 Apr. 2025
  • O’Neil had shown a more ruthless streak in dealing with Lemina, stripping the midfielder of the captaincy after those embarrassing post-match scenes at West Ham.
    Steve Madeley, New York Times, 21 Apr. 2025
Adjective
  • Rosamund Pike adds her name to the cast list, starring as a diamond seller whose family launders their profits through corrupt back-channels.
    Anna Kaufman, USA Today, 1 May 2025
  • Countless cases have shown how these schemes have granted safe haven to corrupt actors from around the world and other suspicious individuals in the EU.
    Cecilia Rodriguez, Forbes.com, 29 Apr. 2025
Adjective
  • Before the arrest, some indignant residents took to social media to speculate about a possible motive — alleging without proof that unscrupulous developers or even the city itself may have orchestrated the acts.
    Grace Toohey, Los Angeles Times, 24 Apr. 2025
  • This was meant to prevent unscrupulous spammers from being able to send unauthenticated email that could come complete with a nefarious payload.
    Davey Winder, Forbes.com, 21 Apr. 2025
Adjective
  • The notorious Sackler family, opioid pushers responsible for countless cases of addiction and death, can’t seem to settle their legal problems without turning to some kind of unprincipled maneuver.
    The Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune, 2 Feb. 2025
  • Objective voters who watched the recent documentary about Lev Parnas, once a Trump ally, should fear a redux of a Cabinet running the government for an angry, unhinged, unprincipled man.
    Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 1 Oct. 2024
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.

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Cite this Entry

“Machiavellian.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/Machiavellian. Accessed 3 May. 2025.

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