Machiavellian

Definition

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

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.

Example Sentences

• "Iago is the Machiavellian antagonist in William Shakespeare's play Othello."
• "The most common reason cited is a Machiavellian one: Police view perjury as a necessary means to achieve the ends of justice."
• "These are the actions of a club flailing around to make things work, not the 4D chess moves of some Machiavellian puppet master."