expedient
adjective · noun
Simple meaning
Affording short-term benefit, often at the expense of the long-term.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
ihkspeedeeuhntSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ɪksˈpidiənt
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
adjective
Affording short-term benefit, often at the expense of the long-term.
Suitable to effect some desired end or the purpose intended.
Governed by self-interest, often short-term self-interest.
Serving to promote your interest
“Was merciful only when mercy was expedient.”
noun
A means to an end; not necessarily a principled or ethical one
A method or means for achieving a particular result, especially when direct or efficient; a resource.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C2 · Proficient
- Frequency
- Uncommon
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Affording short-term benefit, often at the expense of the long-term.
Used this way, expedient is a reasonably familiar word with a mildly favourable edge. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Slightly positive
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Moderate
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Positive and appreciative
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use expedient
- “Was merciful only when mercy was expedient.”adjective
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
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Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
An unplanned expedient.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: affording short-term benefit
Antonyms
Sense: affording short-term benefit
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.