1. Something which is suitable or advantageous for a situation: Admittedly, the neon sign is disturbing, but it's a necessary expedient for attracting more people to Kermit's store.
2. A means to an end: Mack used a hidden key as a useful expedient to get into his house because he forgot to take his regular set of keys with him when he went shopping.
3. An objective that is devised or employed as a procedure to achieve a desire; not necessarily an honest one: The governing body was accused of choosing short-term expedients instead of practical economic policies.

The criminal resorted to shady expedients in order to rob banks.

4. Etymology: from Latin, "to free (a person’s) feet from fetters"; an antonym of "impede"; hence, "to free from difficulties, to help forward, to get (a work) completed, to dispatch, to send off", etc. © ALL rights are reserved.

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1. A reference to an effort to come up with a quick solution or an effective approach to a potential problem: The speaker found it expedient to lecture from his notes and not to depend on his memory.

Frank told his son to be calm, do the right thing, and not to hurry too quickly in order to make an expedient decision.

2. Conveying some proposed or desired objective; fit or suitable for the purpose; proper under the circumstances: Jim thinks it is an expedient idea that he and his wife go home now because the storm could get worse.
© ALL rights are reserved.
© ALL rights are reserved.

Go to this Word A Day Revisited Index
so you can see more of Mickey Bach's cartoons.