Make Your Point > Archived Issues > EXPEDIENT
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pronounce
EXPEDIENT:
Say it "eck SPEED ee yunt."
To hear it, click here.
connect this word to others:
Today's word expedient (meaning "suitable, practical, handy, or self-serving") comes in its own issue, separate from our word expedite, because their meanings are so different in modern usage.
Could you explain how? That is, how is it that something expedient hasn't necessarily been expedited? (If you're not sure, give expedite a click.)
definition:
The word "expedient" has Latin roots that mean, approximately, "with the feet unchained," or more loosely, "ready to go, prepared, appropriate for the purpose."
In English, "expedient" first meant "ready to go: quick and speedy."
But over time, we started using the figurative sense more often, and that's the one we use today: expedient things are suitable, appropriate, advantageous, or helpful for accomplishing whatever the goal is, sometimes in a way that selfishly helps just you and your own goal instead of something broader or more important.
grammatical bits:
Part of speech:
Adjective: "It'll be expedient to do it this way;" "They found a more expedient solution."
Other forms:
Expediently, expedience.
(Why "expedience" as the noun and not "expedition" or "expediency"? Because we usually use "expedition" to mean "a journey to accomplish something," and we use "expediency" to mean "quickness, or the process of making something quicker." For more on this, check out the word "expedite.")
"Expedient" can also be a noun meaning "a thing that's suitable, appropriate, advantageous, and helpful, especially in a self-serving way."
how to use it:
"Expedient" is a common, formal word. It has a slightly more critical tone than synonyms like "helpful" and "convenient." When you pick this word, you might be implying that people are doing whatever they're doing just because it's the easiest way to get it done and still get credit for it.
You might talk about expedient tactics and methods, or expedient moves and decisions. And you might use a phrase like "It would be expedient to do this," or "Doing that wouldn't be expedient."
And it can be a noun, too, so you can talk about some move or tactic being an expedient: "That's just an expedient;" "I often rely on that expedient;" "This is an expedient that has served us well;" "That was nothing but a political expedient."
I love how "expedient" sounds like it's got the word "speedy" inside it. But don't let that throw you off. Recall that something speedy, or something that's been helpfully sped up, is "expedited," or "expeditious," not necessarily "expedient," which we use to mean "handy, easy to do, or helpful in accomplishing your own goals."
examples:
"But [pianist Jennifer Thomas] never set out to become a YouTube star. 'I have three boys, who are ages 11, 8 and 5. I started my YouTube channel when they were babies. Making videos was a means of performing without leaving the house,' she says. What started as an expedient substitute evolved into much more. 'It was a whole new world of artistic release for me.'"
— Gemma Alexander, Seattle Times, 19 August 2019
"Teenagers deserve better... I can't tell you how tired I get of hearing lazy, politically expedient lies about some of the most interesting people in the country... we think of them almost entirely in negative terms. What they can't do, what they aren't achieving, how much they don't read."
— Patrick Ness, The Guardian, 15 June 2012
has this page helped you understand "expedient"?
study it:
Explain the meaning of "expedient" without saying "convenient" or "opportune."
try it out:
Here's a saying that often gets attributed to Thomas Edison:
"There is no expedient to which a man will not resort to avoid the real labor of thinking."
(Where did the saying actually come from? Quote Investigator has the full story.)
Talk about what this saying means, and how it reveals the slightly negative tone of the word "expedient." Has this saying held true sometimes for you? Or, have you noticed it holding true for other people?
before you review, play:
Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.
Our game for April is "Netflix and Anagram."
Check out the anagrammed title of a series or movie you can watch on Netflix, along with a descriptive sentence or two about it from Google. See if you can come up with the real title. To see the answer, scroll all the way down.
Here's an example. IF CRUEL: "After abandoning his throne and retiring to Los Angeles, he indulges in his favorite things (women, wine and song) -- until a murder takes place outside of his upscale nightclub." The answer is LUCIFER.
Try this one today:
CHART HEN: "A former sports phenom returns to his family's Colorado [home] and discovers a lot's changed since he's been away chasing his dreams." (Moo.)
review this word:
A. INDUCEMENT.
B. IMPEDIMENT.
C. IMPOSITION.
2.
In an article about one of those singing-contest shows, a writer for the New York Times observed, "Quirk is as likely a route to fame as versatility, and probably a more expedient one." He means that, if the contestants are quirky, they're likely to get famous _____ than if they're just versatile.
A. faster
B. faster and more easily
C. to a greater degree
a final word:
I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love.
I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words.
From my blog:
36 ways to study words.
Why we forget words, & how to remember them.
How to use sophisticated words without being awkward.
To be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.
Disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.
Today's word expedient (meaning "suitable, practical, handy, or self-serving") comes in its own issue, separate from our word expedite, because their meanings are so different in modern usage.
The word "expedient" has Latin roots that mean, approximately, "with the feet unchained," or more loosely, "ready to go, prepared, appropriate for the purpose."
Part of speech:
"Expedient" is a common, formal word. It has a slightly more critical tone than synonyms like "helpful" and "convenient." When you pick this word, you might be implying that people are doing whatever they're doing just because it's the easiest way to get it done and still get credit for it.
"But [pianist Jennifer Thomas] never set out to become a YouTube star. 'I have three boys, who are ages 11, 8 and 5. I started my YouTube channel when they were babies. Making videos was a means of performing without leaving the house,' she says. What started as an expedient substitute evolved into much more. 'It was a whole new world of artistic release for me.'"
Explain the meaning of "expedient" without saying "convenient" or "opportune."
Here's a saying that often gets attributed to Thomas Edison:
Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.
I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love.
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