Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. The political doctrine of Machiavelli, which denies the relevance of morality in political affairs and holds that craft and deceit are justified in pursuing and maintaining political power.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. The principles or system of statesmanship of Machiavelli; the political doctrines attributed to Machiavelli—namely, the pursuit of success at any price, and the systematic subordination of right to expediency (see Machiavellian, n.); the theory that all means may be justifiably employed, however unlawful and treacherous in themselves, for the establishment and maintenance of the authority of the ruler over his subjects; political cunning and unscrupulous artifice.
Wiktionary
- n. A political philosophy, based on the writings of Machiavelli, especially The Prince, that advocates the use of ruthlessness and duplicity in political dealings.
- n. A political maneuver that exemplifies the philosophy.
- n. Any ruthless, duplicitous behavior.
WordNet 3.0
- n. the political doctrine of Machiavelli: any means (however unscrupulous) can be used by a ruler in order to create and maintain his autocratic government
Etymologies
- Machiavellian + -ism (Wiktionary)
Examples
“Wolcott is referring to Niccolò Machiavelli, a philosopher and writer in the Italian Renaissance, who inspired the political term Machiavellianism, defined as "the employment of cunning and duplicity in statecraft or in general conduct," according to the Oxford English Dictionary.”
“In a modern context Machiavellianism is also a term that some social and personality psychologists use to describe a person’s tendency to deceive and manipulate others for personal gain.”
“By doing all of this, the Grotian school is supposed to negotiate a middle way between bare-knuckled "Machiavellianism" and excessively idealistic”
“According to the Oxford English Dictionary 'Machiavellianism' is "the employment of cunning and duplicity in statecraft or in general conduct", but as the quote above from 'The Prince' shows Machiavelli was also a pragmatic realist.”
“The only gaping flaw in McConnell's Machiavellianism is the hard cold fact that Congress would have to vote on this scheme in the first place.”
The Huffington Post: Chris Weigant: Friday Talking Points -- Obama 2.0?
“You can decry this as crass Machiavellianism if you wish, but that's the way life works in Washington.”
The Huffington Post: Chris Weigant: Friday Talking Points -- Foreign Policy Issues Reappear
“This paragraph is a paradigm of legal Machiavellianism – and is pretty weak legal reasoning for an academic.”
“Britton doesn't radiate cruel strength to begin with -- he's kind of a cuddly-looking fellow, and he doesn't clearly display Richard's Machiavellianism.”
The Washington Post: Washington Shakespeare Company's haunted 'Richard III' isn't haunting enough
“Rahm Emanuel's Machiavellianism, if one can call it that, is a pale, unsuccessful, ineffective version.”
The Huffington Post: Popping the Washington Post's Rahm Bubble
“Thereplacement of manufacturing with service industries has made chameleonism, Machiavellianism, charm and office political skills increasingly vital for success.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘Machiavellianism’.
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Eight-syllable English Words
A list of eight-syllable English words, beginning with monoubiquitylation.
Please feel free to add your own octosyllabic discoveries.
monoubiquitylation, monoubiquitination, epidemiological, hematopericardium, psychophysiological, encephalomyelitis, palaeopalynology, encephalomyelitic, actuopalynology, paleopalynology, melissopalynology, melitopalynology and 169 more...
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Interesting words
A list of words that are odd or words that I have looked up.
concupiscence, brize, scree, scoria, forestaff, spanaemia, valetudinarianism, distasture, pyrethrum, laudanum, gentian, bicameral and 11184 more...
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-ism's -logies
acosmism, absurdism, absolutism, ableism, aestheticism, alarmism, allotheism, anachronism, animalculism, analogism, animatism, animism and 464 more...
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Fubbery and Blaflum
An arcade of artifice and deception.
fubbery, blaflum, Drunken Fist, escamoterie, archdeceiver, legerdemain, prestidigitation, prestidigital, glaik, imposture, fraud, disguise and 78 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for Machiavellianism.
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