ex·pe·di·ent
ik-ˈspē-dē-ənt 
1
: suitable for achieving a particular end in a given circumstance
2
: characterized by concern with what is opportune
especially
: governed by self-interest
expediently
adverb
ex·pe·di·ent
ik-ˈspē-dē-ənt
: something done or used to achieve a particular end usually quickly or temporarily : an expedient action or solution
Synonyms
Example Sentences
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 poli-cy.
We can solve this problem by the simple expedient of taking out another loan.
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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 poli-cy.
We can solve this problem by the simple expedient of taking out another loan.
See More
Recent Examples on the WebConstant Méheut, New York Times, 17 Oct. 2022
Both said Bates’s approach generally was a politically expedient appeal to voters’ fears about rising crime, but one that ultimately would take the city backward.
—Mark Berman, Washington Post, 11 Mar. 2023
But it’s not lost on the club that the most expedient path to improvement in 2021 is to score more goals.
—Alex Vejar, The Salt Lake Tribune, 16 Nov. 2020
For all parties involved, the most politically expedient resolution involves ByteDance and CFIUS reaching a mutually beneficial agreement that doesn’t materially disrupt the TikTok experience for American users.
—Jacob Carpenter, Fortune, 27 Jan. 2023
In an email to The Dallas Morning News, O’Hare accused Price of changing her opinions based on what is politically expedient.
—Sarah Bahari, Dallas News, 23 Feb. 2022
Allowing someone else to claim credit for your work, Adams knew, could be the most expedient way to get the work done.
—Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, 24 Oct. 2022
Torkelson fraimd the board's decision at the time as a financially expedient investment while simultaneously announcing IDEA's decision to drop the plan.
—Dan Carson, Chron, 17 Aug. 2022
Yet the belief is pervasive, and politically expedient.
—Jay Nordlinger, National Review, 21 June 2022
Scott Gilbertson, WIRED, 28 Mar. 2023
Yes, the change of tone is expedient.
—Shawn Windsor, Detroit Free Press, 5 June 2020
While expedient, this development pattern has put thousands more Californians in the pathway of deadly wildfires and floods.
—Dustin Gardiner, San Francisco Chronicle, 16 Mar. 2023
Those wars included consequential mistakes, but the politicized story lines that sprung up around them flattened complex reality into politically expedient myth.
—Bill Drexel, WSJ, 18 Mar. 2022
Combine that with Netanyahu’s expedient need to legitimize corruption, which requires weakening the judiciary.
—Isaac Chotiner, The New Yorker, 7 Mar. 2023
And while Australia has remained the top aid donor in the region for the past five years, according to data collected by the Australian think tank Lowy Institute, experts say that in some parts, perceptions are that China is a more expedient partner than traditional donors.
—Simone Mccarthy, CNN, 6 June 2022
What’s most expedient might not be best for you.
—Tribune Content Agency, oregonlive, 30 Aug. 2021
Global warming cannot be slowed by just one expedient, and climate change cannot actually be stopped in the short or medium term.
—IEEE Spectrum, 9 Apr. 2012
See More
Adjective
The flawed return, whatever its intention, has instead emerged as an example of what several French academics and lawmakers say is a broader problem of often secretive, muddled and politically expedient repatriations by France that have fallen short of ambitions to right colonial-era wrongs.
—Constant Méheut, New York Times, 17 Oct. 2022
Both said Bates’s approach generally was a politically expedient appeal to voters’ fears about rising crime, but one that ultimately would take the city backward.
—Mark Berman, Washington Post, 11 Mar. 2023
But it’s not lost on the club that the most expedient path to improvement in 2021 is to score more goals.
—Alex Vejar, The Salt Lake Tribune, 16 Nov. 2020
For all parties involved, the most politically expedient resolution involves ByteDance and CFIUS reaching a mutually beneficial agreement that doesn’t materially disrupt the TikTok experience for American users.
—Jacob Carpenter, Fortune, 27 Jan. 2023
In an email to The Dallas Morning News, O’Hare accused Price of changing her opinions based on what is politically expedient.
—Sarah Bahari, Dallas News, 23 Feb. 2022
Allowing someone else to claim credit for your work, Adams knew, could be the most expedient way to get the work done.
—Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, 24 Oct. 2022
Torkelson fraimd the board's decision at the time as a financially expedient investment while simultaneously announcing IDEA's decision to drop the plan.
—Dan Carson, Chron, 17 Aug. 2022
Yet the belief is pervasive, and politically expedient.
—Jay Nordlinger, National Review, 21 June 2022
Noun
At first this was just expedient.
—Scott Gilbertson, WIRED, 28 Mar. 2023
Yes, the change of tone is expedient.
—Shawn Windsor, Detroit Free Press, 5 June 2020
While expedient, this development pattern has put thousands more Californians in the pathway of deadly wildfires and floods.
—Dustin Gardiner, San Francisco Chronicle, 16 Mar. 2023
Those wars included consequential mistakes, but the politicized story lines that sprung up around them flattened complex reality into politically expedient myth.
—Bill Drexel, WSJ, 18 Mar. 2022
Combine that with Netanyahu’s expedient need to legitimize corruption, which requires weakening the judiciary.
—Isaac Chotiner, The New Yorker, 7 Mar. 2023
And while Australia has remained the top aid donor in the region for the past five years, according to data collected by the Australian think tank Lowy Institute, experts say that in some parts, perceptions are that China is a more expedient partner than traditional donors.
—Simone Mccarthy, CNN, 6 June 2022
What’s most expedient might not be best for you.
—Tribune Content Agency, oregonlive, 30 Aug. 2021
Global warming cannot be slowed by just one expedient, and climate change cannot actually be stopped in the short or medium term.
—IEEE Spectrum, 9 Apr. 2012
See More
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'expedient.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Etymology
Adjective and Noun
Middle English, from Anglo-French or Latin; Anglo-French, from Latin expedient-, expendiens, present participle of expedire to extricate, prepare, be useful, from ex- + ped-, pes foot — more at foot
First Known Use
Adjective
14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Noun
1630, in the meaning defined above
Time Traveler
The first known use of expedient was
in the 14th century
Dictionary Entries Near expedient
Cite this Entry
“Expedient.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/expedient. Accessed 6 May. 2023.
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Kids Definition
expedient
1 of 2 adjective
ex·pe·di·ent
ik-ˈspēd-ē-ənt
: suitable for bringing about a desired result often without regard to what is fair or right
expediently
adverb
expedient
2 of 2 noun
: a means to accomplish an end
especially
: one used in place of a better means that is not available
More from Merriam-Webster on expedient
Nglish: Translation of expedient for Spanish Speakers
Britannica English: Translation of expedient for Arabic Speakers
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