expedient

English

Etymology

From Middle English expedient, from Old French expedient, from Latin expediens (stem expedient-), present participle of expedire (“to bring forward, to dispatch, to expedite; impers. to be profitable, serviceable, advantageous, expedient”), from ex (“out”) + pēs (“foot, hoof”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɪkˈspiːdi.ənt/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Adjective

expedient (comparative more expedient, superlative most expedient)

1. Suitable to effect some desired end or the purpose intended.

   Most people, faced with a decision, will choose the most expedient option.

   • 1611, The Holy Bible,  (King James Version), London: Robert Barker, , →OCLC, John 16:7:

     Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away; for if I go not away, the Comforter willnot come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.

   • a. 1863, Richard Whately, Thoughts and Apophthegms:

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

2. Affording short-term benefit, often at the expense of the long-term.
   • 1849, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter III, in The History of England from the Accession of James II, volume I, London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC, page 389:

     [T]he judges were unanimously of opinion that [...] by the common law of England, no man, not authorised by the crown, had a right to publish political news. While the Whig party was still formidable, the government thought it expedient occasionally to connive at the violation of this rule.

   • 2009, CQ Weekly‎, volume 67, numbers 31-36, page 2190:

     That's because the debate pits textbook economics — which argues that bailouts beget bad behavior begets more bailouts — against practical politics. And politics, or the taking of expedient steps to keep people happy, will almost always win.

   • 2011, L. Fletcher Prouty, Jesse Ventura, The Secret Team: The CIA and Its Allies in Control of the United States and the World‎:

     Government has slowly but positively moved from an active course of following plans and policies to the easier and more expedient course of the counterpuncher.

   • 2013, Douglas B. Klusmeyer, Demetrios G. Papademetriou, Immigration Policy in the Federal Republic of Germany‎:

     Its policies toward foreign lab or across these eras reflect these sharp differences in context, but also reflect a common pattern to treat the recruitment and deployment of foreign nationals as an expedient measure to serve immediate economic objectives

3. Governed by self-interest, often short-term self-interest.
   • 1861, John Stuart Mill, Utilitarianism:

     But the Expedient, in the sense in which it is opposed to the Right, generally means that which is expedient for the particular interest of the agent himself; as when a minister sacrifices the interests of his country to keep himself in place.

4. (obsolete) Expeditious, quick, rapid.
   • c. 1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life and Death of King Iohn”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies  (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, , lines 57–61:

     the adverse winds / Whose leisure I have stay'd, have given him time / To land his legions all as soon as I; / His marches are expedient to this town / His forces strong, his soldiers confident.

Synonyms

• advisable, desirable, judicious, politic, prudent, tactical, wise

Related terms

Translations

Noun

expedient (plural expedients)

1. A method or means for achieving a particular result, especially when direct or efficient; a resource.
   • 1791 December 5, Alexander Hamilton, “Alexander Hamilton’s Final Version of the Report on the Subject of Manufactures”, in Harold C. Syrett, editor, The Papers of Alexander Hamilton‎, volume 10, New York: Columbia University Press, published 1966, →LCCN, →OCLC:

     To secure such a market, there is no other expedient, than to promote manufacturing establishments.

   • 1906, O. Henry, The Green Door:

     He would never let her know that he was aware of the strange expedient to which she had been driven by her great distress.

   • 2009, Diarmaid MacCulloch, A History of Christianity, Penguin, published 2010, page 709:

     Depressingly, [...] the expedient of importing African slaves was in part meant to protect the native American population from exploitation.

Translations

Further reading

• “expedient”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “expedient”, in The Century Dictionary , New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “expedient”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “expedient”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin expedientem.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central)
• IPA^(key): (Balearic)
• IPA^(key): (Valencian)

Adjective

expedient m or f (masculine and feminine plural expedients)

1. expedient, convenient

Noun

expedient m (plural expedients)

1. file, record, dossier

Derived terms

• expedientar

Further reading

• “expedient” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.

Latin

Verb

expedient

1. third-person plural future active indicative of expediō

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French expédient.

Noun

expedient n (plural expediente)

1. expedient

Declension