Machiavellian

See also: machiavellian

English

WOTD – 16 June 2008

Alternative forms

• machiavellian

Etymology

From Machiavelli +‎ -an, from the name of the Italian statesman and writer Niccolò Machiavelli (1469–1527), whose work The Prince (1532) advises that acquiring and exercising power may require unethical methods.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˌmæk.i.əˈvɛl.i.ən/, /ˌmæk.jəˈvɛl.i.ən/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˌmɑk.i.əˈvɛl.i.ən/, /ˌmæk.jəˈvɛl.i.ən/

• Audio (US):

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  ,

  Audio (US):

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• Audio (General Australian):

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• Rhymes: -ɛliən

Adjective

Machiavellian (comparative more Machiavellian, superlative most Machiavellian)

1. Attempting to achieve goals by cunning, scheming, and unscrupulous methods, especially in politics.

   Iago is the Machiavellian antagonist in William Shakespeare's play Othello.

   • 1999 January, Larry Cunningham, “Taking on Testilying”, in Criminal Justice Ethics, volume 18, →DOI, pages 26–40:

     The most common reason cited is a Machiavellian one: Police view perjury as a necessary means to achieve the ends of justice.

   • 2021 August 5, “Messi’s Departure Is a Mess Everyone Could See Coming”, in The New York Times‎^[1], archived from the original on 5 August 2021:

     These are the actions of a club flailing around to make things work, not the 4D chess moves of some Machiavellian puppet master.

2. Related to the philosophical system of Niccolò Machiavelli.
   • 2006, Paul Rahe, Machiavelli's Liberal Republican Legacy:

     As Dr. Spalding notes, the connection that Washington drew "between private morality and national character, between virtue and happiness, hardly seems Machiavellian."

Synonyms

• Machiavellic
• Machiavellistic

Derived terms

• Machiavellianism
• Machiavellism
• Merkelvellian

Translations

attempting to achieve goals by cunning, scheming, and unscrupulous methods

• Arabic: مَكْيافِلِّيّ (makyavilliyy)
• Armenian: մաքիավելյան (hy) (makʻiavelyan)
• Bulgarian: лукав (bg) (lukav)
• Catalan: maquiavèl·lic (ca)
• Danish: machiavellistisk
• Esperanto: makiavela
• Finnish: machiavellimainen, machiavellilainen, häikäilemätön (fi)
• French: machiavélique (fr)
• German: machiavellistisch (de)
• Greek: μακιαβελικός (el) (makiavelikós)
• Italian: machiavellico (it)
• Portuguese: maquiavélico (pt)
• Romanian: machiavelic (ro)
• Russian: макиавеллистический (ru) (makiavellističeskij)
• Spanish: maquiavélico
• Swedish: machiavellisk (sv)

related to the philosophical system of Niccolò Machiavelli

• Armenian: մաքիավելյան (hy) (makʻiavelyan)
• Danish: machiavellistisk
• Finnish: machiavellilainen
• French: machiavélien (fr)
• Greek: μακιαβελικός (el) (makiavelikós)
• Italian: machiavelliano (it)
• Portuguese: maquiaveliano
• Russian: макиавеллистический (ru) (makiavellističeskij)
• Spanish: maquiavélico

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Macedonian: ^{(please verify)} макијавелистички (makijavelistički)

Noun

Machiavellian (plural Machiavellians)

1. An unscrupulous schemer.

Synonyms

• Machiavellianist
• Machiavellist
• Machiavel (informal, archaic)