expedient
Americanadjective
-
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
-
conducive to advantage or interest, as opposed to right.
-
acting in accordance with expediency, or what is advantageous.
noun
-
expedients
plural
-
a means to an end.
The ladder was a useful expedient for getting to the second floor.
-
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
adjective
-
suitable to the circumstances; appropriate
-
inclined towards methods or means that are advantageous rather than fair or just
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
-
nonexpedientadjective
-
quasi-expedientadjective
-
unexpedientadjective
-
expedientlyadverb
-
nonexpedientlyadverb
-
quasi-expedientlyadverb
-
unexpedientlyadverb
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of expedient
1350–1400; Middle English < Latin expedient- (stem of expediēns ), present participle of expedīre. See expedite, -ent
Explanation
The adjective expedient describes something that provides an easy way to achieve a goal or result, but it's not necessarily a moral solution. Politically expedient means something you do to advance yourself politically. Use expedient when you want to hint that a particular solution or strategy has certain benefits and advantages but is not completely fair. However, expedient can also be used as a noun to describe something practical for a particular purpose.
Vocabulary lists containing expedient
300 Most Difficult "SAT" Words
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Grade 12, List 1
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"The Black Cat" by Edgar Allan Poe
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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:
People will readily share their data — even when it comes to their health — for things they value, like better service, cheaper prices, and expedient convenience.
From MarketWatch ● Jan. 21, 2026
One expedient way to get more done is, he suggests, to turn deliberate intentions into defaults: “Activities you once had to muster the motivation to do will, given enough repetition, become habits.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 1, 2026
Much more expedient, and more favorable from an equity investors’ standpoint, is to continue to issue debt.
From Barron's ● Oct. 31, 2025
They’ve worked with Mayor Karen Bass and her office, the local government in the Palisades and Steadfast LA, Rick Caruso’s nonprofit, to find the most efficient and expedient way to rebuild the rec center.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 30, 2025
The fight was finally settled in 1879 with the simple expedient of coming up with a new period, the Ordovician, to be inserted between the two.
From "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson
For a time it appeared that Washington was prepared to buy into this set of expedients.
From Salon ● Oct. 6, 2015
All the things we did were great expedients, given the terrible problems we had, and it’s working after a fashion.
From Forbes ● Apr. 13, 2015
The era of procrastination, of half-measures, of soothing and baffling expedients, of delays is coming to its close.
From The Guardian ● Dec. 10, 2012
These expedients would work, but they’d be horrendously inefficient compared with the modern agricultural, packaging, and transportation methods.
From Slate ● Jul. 18, 2012
He resented having “to resort to temporary expedients merely to make a poor show for the opening.”
From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson
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.
