Link Centre Dictionary

Machiavellian

mac·hia·vel·lian

UK/ˌmæk.i.əˈvɛl.i.ən/ US/ˌmæk.jəˈvɛl.i.ən/ rare

adjective

1.

of or relating to Machiavelli or the principles of conduct he recommended

  • “Machiavellian thinking”

Origin

From Machiavelli + -an, from the name of the Italian statesman and writer Niccolò Machiavelli (1469-1527), whose work The Prince (1532) advises that acquiring and exercising power may require unethical methods.

Related words

Word family

Pertaining to

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.