noun
expedience
ik-SPEE-dee-uns/ɪkspˈidiʌns/
Practical advantage or convenience, especially at the expense of principle.
The man chooses expedience, steadying the table with folded cardboard instead of repairing it.
Etymology
Latin expedientia connects expedience with usefulness and advantage. The emphasis shifted toward practical benefit as a guide to action, allowing success to take priority over principle.
In context
the expedience philosophy of Jeremy Bentham and his many utilitarian followers
More examples
- For the sake of expedience, we approve the plan without debate.
- Political expedience keeps the mayor from challenging a popular but harmful policy.
- Sharing office space is a matter of expedience, not friendship.
Forms
expedient adjective — Useful or convenient for achieving a purpose.
Similar words
- expediency
- The more common term for the same practical advantage.
- convenience
- Emphasizes ease or reduced effort rather than moral compromise.
- pragmatism
- Focuses on practical results without necessarily compromising principles.