Machiavellian — index artful Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 … Law dictionary
Machiavellian — (adj.) cunning, deceitful, unscrupulous, 1570s, from Niccolo Machiavelli (1469 1527), Florentine statesman and author of Del Principe, a work advising rulers to place advantage above morality. A word of abuse in English well before his works were … Etymology dictionary
Machiavellian — a noun and adjective denoting a politically devious schemer, is spelt with a capital initial letter and two ls … Modern English usage
Machiavellian — [adj] scheming artful, astute, calculating, conniving, contriving, crafty, cunning, deceitful, devious, expedient, opportunist, plotting, shrewd, sly, underhanded, unscrupulous, wily; concepts 401,545 … New thesaurus
Machiavellian — ► ADJECTIVE ▪ cunning, scheming, and unscrupulous. ORIGIN from the name of the Italian statesman and writer Niccolò Machiavelli (1469 1527), whose work The Prince (1532) advises that the acquisition and use of power may necessitate unethical… … English terms dictionary
Machiavellian — [mak΄ē ə vel′ē ən, mäk΄ē ə vel′ē ən; mak΄ē əvel′yən] adj. 1. of Machiavelli 2. of, like, or characterized by the political principles and methods of expediency, craftiness, and duplicity set forth in Machiavelli s book, The Prince; crafty,… … English World dictionary
Machiavellian — [[t]mæ̱kiəve̱liən[/t]] ADJ GRADED: usu ADJ n (disapproval) If you describe someone as Machiavellian, you are critical of them because they often make clever and secret plans to achieve their aims and are not honest with people. ...Machiavellian… … English dictionary
Machiavellian — 1. adjective /ˌmɒk.i.əˈvɛl.i.ən,ˌmæk.jəˈvɛl.i.ən,ˌmɑk.i.əˈvɛl.i.ən,ˌmæk.jəˈvɛl.i.ən/ a) Attempting to achieve their goals by cunning, scheming, and unscrupulous methods. is the Machiavellian antagonist in William Shakespeares play, . b) Related… … Wiktionary
Machiavellian — Machiavelian Mach i*a*vel ian, Machiavellian Mach i*a*vel lian, a. [From Machiavel (also called Machiavelli), an Italian writer, secretary and historiographer to the republic of Florence.] Of or pertaining to Machiavelli, or to his supposed… … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
Machiavellian — Machiavelian Mach i*a*vel ian, Machiavellian Mach i*a*vel lian, n. One who adopts the principles of Machiavelli; a cunning and unprincipled politician. [1913 Webster] … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
