Machiavelian
Definition of machiavelian:
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part of speech: noun
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part of speech: adjective
Politically cunning: crafty: perfidious.
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part of speech: noun
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part of speech: adjective
Denoting the principles of Machiavel, who taught the principles of expediency as opposed to right in his system of politics or statesmanship; cunning or crafty in politics and government.
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Usage examples for Machiavelian:
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To this practice, which deserved the very phrases which Coke used against the prisoner's dealings, 'devilish and machiavelian policy, ' Raleigh protested again and again that he ought not to be subjected, until Coke lost his temper once more, and cried, 'I thou thee, thou traitor, and I will prove thee the rankest traitor in all England.
"Raleigh" – Edmund Gosse -
He could display a candor that seemed only short of indiscretion; and yet, when you left him, you found you had carried away nothing beyond some neatly turned aphorisms and a few very harmless imitations of Machiavelian subtlety.
"The Bramleighs Of Bishop's Folly" – Charles James Lever -
Heaven grant that there machiavelian manoevres may end in failure.
"A Heart-Song of To-day" – Annie Gregg Savigny