expediency

  • 1expediency — / expedience [n1] appropriateness; worth advantage, advantageousness, advisability, appositeness, aptness, benefit, convenience, desirability, effectiveness, efficiency, fitness, helpfulness, judiciousness, meetness, opportunism, opportunity,… …

    New thesaurus

  • 2expediency — index artifice, benefit (betterment), boom (prosperity), expedience, feasibility, pragmatism, pro …

    Law dictionary

  • 3expediency — [ek spē′dē ən sē, ikspē′dē ən sē] n. pl. expediencies 1. the quality or state of being expedient; suitability for a given purpose; appropriateness to the conditions 2. the doing or consideration of what is of selfish use or advantage rather than… …

    English World dictionary

  • 4Expediency — Expedience Ex*pe di*ence, Expediency Ex*pe di*en*cy,, n. 1. The quality of being expedient or advantageous; fitness or suitableness to effect a purpose intended; adaptedness to self interest; desirableness; advantage; advisability; sometimes… …

    The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • 5expediency — [[t]ɪkspi͟ːdiənsi[/t]] N UNCOUNT Expediency means doing what is convenient rather than what is morally right. [FORMAL] It seems political expediency, rather than absolute economic need, will determine who gains from the conflict... This was a… …

    English dictionary

  • 6expediency — expedience, expediency Both forms are in use in the meaning ‘fitness, suitability, advantage’, although expediency is much more common (three times more, according to the evidence of the OEC). The rhythm of the sentence often determines which is… …

    Modern English usage

  • 7expediency — UK [ɪkˈspiːdɪənsɪ] / US [ɪkˈspɪdɪənsɪ] noun [countable/uncountable] Word forms expediency : singular expediency plural expediencies formal the use of methods that produce an immediate result or solution to a problem, but may not be fair or honest …

    English dictionary

  • 8expediency — noun (plural cies) Date: 1597 1. the quality or state of being suited to the end in view ; suitability, fitness 2. obsolete a. haste, dispatch b. an enterprise requiring haste or caution 3. adherence to expedient means and methods …

    New Collegiate Dictionary

  • 9expediency — ex|pe|di|en|cy [ıkˈspi:diənsi] n also ex|pe|di|ence [ diəns]plural expediencies [U and C] action that is quickest or most effective in a particular situation, even if it is morally wrong ▪ These are not politics of honest principle; they are… …

    Dictionary of contemporary English

  • 10expediency — also ex.pe.di.ence noun (C, U) what it is useful or necessary to do in a particular situation, even if it is morally wrong: Not burying the dead soldiers was unfortunately a matter of expediency …

    Longman dictionary of contemporary English