unprincipled

English

Etymology

From un- +‎ principled.

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /ʌnˈpɹɪnsɪpəld/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Adjective

unprincipled (comparative more unprincipled, superlative most unprincipled)

1. Lacking moral values.
   • 1890, James Franck Bright, edited by Rivingtons, A History of England‎^[1], →ISBN, page 853:

     But side by side with it was a baser conspiracy, among the more unprincipled and desperate friends of James, for the assassination of the King.

   • 2025 January 23, David French, “Donald Trump Is Running Riot”, in The New York Times‎^[2], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 24 January 2025:

     That’s what Joe Biden did. His pardon of his son Hunter was understandable from a paternal perspective (what father wants to see his son in prison?), but it was inexcusably unprincipled.

   • 2025 August 25, Robert Reich, “Why Trump built a staff of incompetent sycophants”, in The Guardian‎^[3], archived from the original on 25 August 2025:

     Early in his career, Trump apprenticed himself to Roy Cohn, an unprincipled lawyer who taught the young Trump how to gain wealth and influence through ruthless bullying, profane braggadocio, opportunistic bigotry, baseless lawsuits, lying, and more lying.
     Yet as Trump’s “fixer” with politicians, judges and mob bosses, Cohn remained utterly loyal to Trump and his father, Fred.

Synonyms

• licentious, immoral

Related terms

• principled
• principle

Translations

lacking moral values

• Bulgarian: безпринципен (bg) (bezprincipen)
• Danish: principløs
• Dutch: principeloos (nl), beginselloos (nl), gewetenloos (nl)
• French: dénué de principes, sans scrupule, amoral (fr)
• German: gewissenlos (de), prinzipienlos, prinzipienfrei
• Italian: senza scrupoli
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: prinsippløs, prinsipplaus

  Nynorsk: prinsipplaus

• Polish: niegodziwy (pl), bezpodstawny (pl)
• Russian: беспринци́пный (ru) (besprincípnyj)
• Spanish: sin escrúpulos, inescrupuloso m, ímprobo (es) m, de moral relajada, inmoral (es), sinvergüenza (es) m or f
• Ukrainian: безпринци́пний (bezpryncýpnyj)

References

• Oxford English Dictionary