expedient

[ik-spee-dee-uhnt]

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.

   Synonyms: profitable, advantageous, desirable, appropriate, advisable
   Antonyms: disadvantageous

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

3. acting in accordance with expediency, or what is advantageous.

noun

1. a means to an end.

   The ladder was a useful expedient for getting to the second floor.

2. a means devised or employed in an exigency; resource; shift.

   Use any expedients you think necessary to get over the obstacles in your way.

   Synonyms: resort, contrivance, device

expedient

/ ɪkˈspiːdɪənt /

adjective

1. suitable to the circumstances; appropriate

2. inclined towards methods or means that are advantageous rather than fair or just

noun

1. something suitable or appropriate, esp something used during an urgent situation

Other Word Forms

• expediently adverb
• nonexpedient adjective
• nonexpediently adverb
• quasi-expedient adjective
• quasi-expediently adverb
• unexpedient adjective
• unexpediently adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of expedient¹

1350–1400; Middle English < Latin expedient- (stem of expediēns ), present participle of expedīre. See expedite, -ent

Word History and Origins

Origin of expedient¹

C14: from Latin expediēns setting free; see _expedite

Example Sentences

It’s also expedient and facile, sparing the party from looking inward and doing the truly hard work it faces.

From Los Angeles Times

Council officers considered whether enforcement action should have been taken, but recommended "it would not be expedient for the council to take any formal enforcement action against the event organiser", calling the breach "minor".

From BBC

When we reach the third point, I believe the purest definition of a cult starts to fall apart, and it becomes another culturally expedient term used to describe our complex political moment.

From Salon

Stanton is a bit of an elitist; Anthony actually comes from a more reformist, anti-slavery tradition, but she still makes those expedient compromises, which I think costs the suffrage movement.

From Salon

For school populations still processing the traumas of the deadly Palisades fire, an expedient return to classrooms has been important.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• ad hoc 
• advantageous 
• desirable 
• feasible 
• judicious 
• opportune 
• practicable 
• practical 
• pragmatic 
• prudent