expediency
Americannoun
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expediencies
plural
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the quality of being expedient; advantageousness; advisability.
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a regard for what is politic or advantageous rather than for what is right or just; a sense of self-interest.
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something expedient.
noun
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appropriateness; suitability
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the use of or inclination towards methods that are advantageous rather than fair or just
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another word for expedient
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of expediency
From the Late Latin word expedientia, dating back to 1605–15. See expedient, -ency
Explanation
Expediency gets you what you want. While its tone can be neutral, expediency often suggests self-interest, possibly at the expense of doing what's right. Expediency comes from the word expedient, which derived from the Latin expedientem, meaning "beneficial." The negative aspect of the word came about in the 18th Century, taking on the aspect of doing something in the most convenient and advantageous manner, even though that way might be against conventional ethics. As W. Somerset Maugham once wrote, “The most useful thing about a principle is that it can always be sacrificed to expediency.”
Vocabulary lists containing expediency
Trumps
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The Call of the Wild
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The Shakespeare Stealer
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
It’s a tale of substitute mothers and daughters, bonding out of both expediency and love, as well as the toll on those left behind.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2026
The Bears haven’t found the same expediency in Illinois despite buying a parcel of land in Arlington Heights, a Chicago suburb, in 2021.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 27, 2026
Apple is pacing itself, putting user experience and privacy above expediency.
From Barron's ● Dec. 5, 2025
Barr, which made clear that immigration enforcement must be tethered to the Constitution, not expediency.
From Slate ● Sep. 22, 2025
Even though Reggie was coming to terms with his actions at the time of the accident, there was plenty of reason to think the plea was just expediency.
From "A Deadly Wandering: A Mystery, a Landmark Investigation, and the Astonishing Science of Attention in the Digital Age" by Matt Richtel
And in our contacts with Mexican people we had been faced with a change in expediencies.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 1, 2020
The film examine three discrete chapters in Jobs' life, and some believed that, whatever narrative expediencies it provided, that structure could be a liability.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 27, 2015
Mr. Murswiek criticized the central bank for viewing “economic expediencies as the only thing worth caring about.”
From New York Times ● Oct. 13, 2014
In 1945, American General Douglas MacArthur tore open an isolated military government for trade, military expediencies and intelligence.
From Time ● Jun. 3, 2013
You must in this permit me to judge of expediencies.
From The Leopard Woman by Stewart Edward White
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
