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machiavelian
Part of speech: NounOne who adopts the principles of Machiavel.
Part of speech: AdjectiveDenoting 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.
Usage examples "machiavelian":- 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.
- It was even more hopelessly constitutional, to all appearances, than Johnny's Machiavelian cunning. - "The Children of the Poor", Jacob A. Riis.