expediency

English

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛkˈspiː.dɪ.ən.si/

• Audio (UK):

  (file)

Noun

expediency (countable and uncountable, plural expediencies)

1. (uncountable) The quality of being fit or suitable to effect some desired end or the purpose intended; suitability for particular circumstance or situation.

   Synonym: expedience

   • 1810, Thomas Cogan, An Ethical Treatise on the Passions and Affections of the Mind, page 137:

     Imperfet governments […] may palliate crimes upon the plea of necessity or expediency; divine wisdom discovers no expediency in vice; […]

   • 1828, Richard Whately, Elements of Rhetoric, part II, p. 214:

     Much declamation may be heard in the present day against “expediency”, as if it were not the proper object of a Deliberative Assembly, and as if it were only pursued by the unprincipled.

   • 2023, Clive Young, “chapter three: From Union to Devolution”, in Unlocking Scots: The Secret Life of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Luath Press Limited, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 76:

     However, by that time the powerful tides of political unionism, metropolitan fashion and commercial expediency were flowing against the language, at least among the Scottish elites.

2. (uncountable) Pursuit of the course of action that brings the desired effect even if it is unjust or unprincipled.

   Synonym: convenience

   • 1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XXIII, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume II, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 258:

     Utterly neglectful of what he owes to the kingdom which he hopes to regain, Charles has learned but adversity's worst lesson—expediency.

   • 2021 July 16, Ben Quinn, “England’s Covid unlocking is threat to world, say 1,200 scientists”, in The Guardian‎:

     Others warned the British government’s approach would be imitated, for political expediency, by authorities elsewhere.

3. (obsolete) Haste; dispatch.

   Synonym: expedience

4. (countable) An expedient.

Related terms

• expede
• expedience
• expedient
• expedite
• expedition

Translations

quality of being fit or suitable to effect some desired end

Bulgarian: целесъобразност (bg) f (celesǎobraznost), удобство (bg) n (udobstvo) Dutch: doelmatigheid (nl), opportunisme (nl), toepasselijkheid f, passendheid f, gepastheid (nl) f Finnish: tarkoituksenmukaisuus (fi) French: efficacité (fr) f, opportunisme (fr) m, convenance (fr) f Georgian: მიზანშეწონილობა (mizanšec̣oniloba) German: Zweckmäßigkeit (de) f, Zweckdienlichkeit (de) f, Opportunität (de) f Portuguese: eficácia (pt) Russian: целесообра́зность (ru) f (celesoobráznostʹ) Spanish: conveniencia (es) f Ukrainian: доці́льність f (docílʹnistʹ)

References

• OED2
• Noah Webster (1828), “expediency”, in An American Dictionary of the English Language: […], volume I (A–I), New York, N.Y.: […] S. Converse; printed by Hezekiah Howe […], →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “expediency”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
• “expediency”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• Douglas Harper (2001–2025), “expediency”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.