Expedient - Definitions from Dictionary.com

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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

ex·pe·di·ent

Audio Help [ik-spee-dee-uh

nt] Pronunciation Key

–adjective

1.	tending to promote some proposed or desired object; fit or suitable for the purpose; proper under the circumstances: It is expedient that you go.

2.	conducive to advantage or interest, as opposed to right.

3.	acting in accordance with expediency.

–noun

4.	a means to an end: The ladder was a useful expedient for getting to the second floor.

5.	a means devised or employed in an exigency; resource; shift: Use any expedients you think necessary to get over the obstacles in your way.

[Origin: 1350–1400; ME < L expedient- (s. of expediéns), prp. of expedīre. See expedite, -ent

]

—Related forms

ex·pe·di·ent·ly, adverb

—Synonyms 1. advisable, appropriate, desirable; advantageous, profitable. 5. device, contrivance, resort.

—Antonyms 1. disadvantageous.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Expedient

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

ex·pe·di·ent Audio Help (ĭk-spē'dē-ənt) Pronunciation Key
adj.

Appropriate to a purpose.
1. Serving to promote one's interest: was merciful only when mercy was expedient.
2. Based on or marked by a concern for self-interest rather than principle; self-interested.
Obsolete Speedy; expeditious.

Something that is a means to an end.
Something contrived or used to meet an urgent need. See Synonyms at makeshift.

[Middle English, from Latin expediēns, expedient-, present participle of expedīre, to make ready; see expedite.]

ex·pe'di·ent·ly adv.

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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
expedient

1398, "advantageous, fit, proper" (adj.), from L. expedientem (nom. expediens) "beneficial," prp. of expedire "make fit or ready, prepare" (see expedite). The noun meaning "a device adopted in an exigency, a resource" is from 1653.

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

expedient
adjective
1.	serving to promote your interest; "was merciful only when mercy was expedient" [ant: inexpedient]
2.	appropriate to a purpose; practical; "in the circumstances it was expedient to express loyalty"
noun
1.	a means to an end; not necessarily a principled or ethical one

Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
expedient [ikˈspiːdiənt] adjective

convenient or advisable
Example: It is not expedient to pay him what he has asked.

Arabic:	مُلائِم، مُناسِب
Chinese (Simplified):	适当的,有利的
Chinese (Traditional):	適當的,有利的
Czech:	výhodný
Danish:	hensigtsmæssig; smart
Dutch:	doelmatig
Estonian:	otstarbekas
Finnish:	tarkoituksenmukainen
French:	opportun
German:	ratsam
Greek:	πρόσφορος, σκόπιμος
Hungarian:	ajánlatos
Icelandic:	hentugur; ráðlegur
Indonesian:	bijaksana
Italian:	conveniente, opportuno

Japanese:	適切な
Korean:	합당한
Latvian:	lietderīgs; ieteicams; noderīgs
Lithuanian:	tikslingas, protingas
Norwegian:	hensiktsmessig, formålstjenlig
Polish:	stosowny, celowy
Portuguese (Brazil):	conveniente, oportuno
Portuguese (Portugal):	conveniente
Romanian:	indicat
Russian:	целесообразный
Slovak:	vhodný
Slovenian:	primerno
Spanish:	conveniente
Swedish:	ändamålsenlig, lämplig
Turkish:	işine gelen

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Expedient

Ex*pe"di*ent\a. [L. expediens, -entis, p. pr. of expedire to be expedient, release, extricate: cf. F. exp['e]dient. See Expedite.]

1. Hastening or forward; hence, tending to further or promote a proposed object; fit or proper under the circumstances; conducive to self-interest; desirable; advisable; advantageous; -- sometimes contradistinguished from right.

It is expedient for you that I go away. --John xvi. 7.

Nothing but the right can ever be expedient, since that can never be true expediency which would sacrifice a greater good to a less. --Whately.

2. Quick; expeditious. [Obs.]

His marches are expedient to this town. --Shak.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Expedient

Ex*pe"di*ent\, n. 1. That which serves to promote or advance; suitable means to accomplish an end.

What sure expedient than shall Juno find, To calm her fears and ease her boding mind? --Philips.

2. Means devised in an exigency; shift.

Syn: Shift; contrivance; resource; substitute.

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