expediency Hear it!

expediency Definition

ex·pedi·ency (ek spē′dē ən sē, ik-)

noun pl. -·cies

  1. the quality or state of being expedient; suitability for a given purpose; appropriateness to the conditions
  2. the doing or consideration of what is of selfish use or advantage rather than of what is right or just; self-interest
  3. an expedient

expediency Synonyms

expediency

n.

  1. Appropriateness

    suitability, propriety, desirableness; see fitness 1.

  2. Usefulness

    advantageousness, efficiency, profitableness, self-interest; see opportunism, usefulness, utility 1.

expediency Usage Examples

Converse of object

  • consider: The Commissioners also considered the expediency of appointing a Minister of Science.
  • perceive: Such policies are no means peculiar to the Cold War and its perceived expediencies.
  • reflect: The evidence suggests that decisions on bed numbers in PFI schemes reflect financial expediency rather than clinical judgment.
  • doubt: Or does Comrade Rappoport perhaps doubt the expediency of this decision or its timeliness?
  • mean: It means that political expediency will take the place of independent decision-making in the arts.

Converse of subject

  • drive: It is a quick fix driven by political expediency.
  • motivate: Bearing everything in mind we are tempted to conclude that the Islamic view is motivated by expediency.
  • dictate: It would by no means be the first time that the content of a Shakespeare play was dictated by political expediency.

Adjective modifier

  • short-term: We shall soon see whether he has learned that short-term expediency has long-term costs.
  • political: Political expediency is being allowed to take the place of common sense.
  • financial: I want parents to have a real choice, not a situation that is forced upon them by financial expediency.
  • simple: In January 1929 a number of new Squadrons were created by the simple expediency of raising the existing flights to Squadron status.
  • economic: But for those who put their efforts and money into the building of these houses of worship, economic expediency was not an issue.
  • mere: Expelling the destructive influence of radical clerics is not enough, mere short-term expediency arising from a political need to placate the wider electorate.

Modifies a noun

principle: The introduction of an expediency principle would be likely to result in a greatly reduced economic burden to the criminal justice system.

Noun used with modifier

business: However, the effectiveness of voluntarism relies on business expediency or a company's sense of charity.

Preposition: of

state: Our responsibility was not to adjust our vision of socialism to the short-term expediencies of the Cuban state.

Preposition: than

anything: His appointment was more out of expediency than anything else; there was simply nobody suitable to promote from inside.