Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun The political doctrine of Machiavelli, which denies the relevance of morality in political affairs and holds that craft and deceit are justified in pursuing and maintaining political power.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun The principles or system of statesmanship of Machiavelli; the political doctrines attributed to Machiavelli—namely, the pursuit of success at any price, and the systematic subordination of right to expediency (see
Machiavellian , n.); the theory that all means may be justifiably employed, however unlawful and treacherous in themselves, for the establishment and maintenance of the authority of the ruler over his subjects; political cunning and unscrupulous artifice.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A political philosophy, based on the writings of Machiavelli, especially The Prince, that advocates the use of ruthlessness and duplicity in political dealings.
- noun A political maneuver that exemplifies the philosophy.
- noun Any ruthless, duplicitous behavior.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun the political doctrine of Machiavelli: any means (however unscrupulous) can be used by a ruler in order to create and maintain his autocratic government
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Wolcott is referring to Niccolò Machiavelli, a philosopher and writer in the Italian Renaissance, who inspired the political term Machiavellianism, defined as "the employment of cunning and duplicity in statecraft or in general conduct," according to the Oxford English Dictionary.
azcentral.com | news Lily Leung 2010
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In a modern context Machiavellianism is also a term that some social and personality psychologists use to describe a person’s tendency to deceive and manipulate others for personal gain.
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By doing all of this, the Grotian school is supposed to negotiate a middle way between bare-knuckled "Machiavellianism" and excessively idealistic
Hugo Grotius Miller, Jon 2005
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According to the Oxford English Dictionary 'Machiavellianism' is "the employment of cunning and duplicity in statecraft or in general conduct", but as the quote above from 'The Prince' shows Machiavelli was also a pragmatic realist.
ZDNet News - News Page One Oliver Marks 2010
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You can decry this as crass Machiavellianism if you wish, but that's the way life works in Washington.
Chris Weigant: Friday Talking Points -- Foreign Policy Issues Reappear Chris Weigant 2011
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This paragraph is a paradigm of legal Machiavellianism – and is pretty weak legal reasoning for an academic.
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The only gaping flaw in McConnell's Machiavellianism is the hard cold fact that Congress would have to vote on this scheme in the first place.
Chris Weigant: Friday Talking Points -- Obama 2.0? Chris Weigant 2011
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Britton doesn't radiate cruel strength to begin with -- he's kind of a cuddly-looking fellow, and he doesn't clearly display Richard's Machiavellianism.
Washington Shakespeare Company's haunted 'Richard III' isn't haunting enough Celia Wren 2010
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The only gaping flaw in McConnell's Machiavellianism is the hard cold fact that Congress would have to vote on this scheme in the first place.
Chris Weigant: Friday Talking Points -- Obama 2.0? Chris Weigant 2011
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You can decry this as crass Machiavellianism if you wish, but that's the way life works in Washington.
Chris Weigant: Friday Talking Points -- Foreign Policy Issues Reappear Chris Weigant 2011
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