as in immoral
not guided by or showing a concern for what is right
yet another tale of a power-mad dictator with a Machiavellian plan to take over the world
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for Machiavellian
Adjective
-
Trump’s contrived veneer is being ripped away to reveal an immoral, mendacious, transactional opportunist, without a shred of loyalty to anyone or anything but himself.—
Sun Sentinel Editorial Board,
Sun Sentinel,
21 Mar. 2025 -
Before these studies, the cause of TB was presumed to be primarily constitutional, by either an inherent predisposition or from unhealthy or immoral lifestyles.—
Karen Dobos,
The Conversation,
6 Mar. 2025
Adjective
-
Whoever sells the most wins a car; whoever sells the least is out of a job – a ruthless environment where each character will do anything to come out on top.—
Greg Evans,
Deadline,
17 Mar. 2025
-
The film, inspired by the true story of a ruthless Hawaiian crime boss, promises to be a gripping portrayal of organized crime in the island paradise.—
Mark Davis,
Newsweek,
15 Mar. 2025
Adjective
-
Lars von Trier’s The Kingdom is a soap opera about a hospital where the doctors aren’t good-looking or vibrating with noble sentiment but generally corrupt or insane.—
Adam Thirlwell,
The New York Review of Books,
20 Mar. 2025
-
The Filipino-language thriller follows Dahlia, a disillusioned police aide who steals money from the safe of her corrupt police chief boss, distributing it to slum dwellers whose homes were destroyed.—
Naman Ramachandran,
Variety,
19 Mar. 2025
Adjective
-
In this John le Carré adaptation, Brosnan plays Andy Osnard, a disgraced, unscrupulous, but unfailingly charming MI6 agent who sees a new assignment in an ultracorrupt Panama as a chance to accumulate money and power.—
Keith Phipps,
Vulture,
19 Mar. 2025
-
Michael Douglas — Wall Street (1987) Gordon Gekko is a cunning and unscrupulous corporate predator who crystallized the Reagan-era ethos into three words.—
EW.com,
EW.com,
2 Mar. 2025
Adjective
-
The notorious Sackler family, opioid pushers responsible for countless cases of addiction and death, can’t seem to settle their legal problems without turning to some kind of unprincipled maneuver.—
The Editorial Board,
Chicago Tribune,
2 Feb. 2025
-
Objective voters who watched the recent documentary about Lev Parnas, once a Trump ally, should fear a redux of a Cabinet running the government for an angry, unhinged, unprincipled man.—
Sun Sentinel Editorial Board,
Sun Sentinel,
1 Oct. 2024
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Cite this Entry
“Machiavellian.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/Machiavellian. Accessed 1 Apr. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share