Machiavellian

Adjective

 * 1) Attempting to achieve their goals by cunning, scheming, and unscrupulous methods.
 * Iago is the Machiavellian antagonist in William Shakespeare's play, Othello.
 * 1) Related to the philosophical system of Niccolò Machiavelli.
 * 2) * 2006, Mark Vernon, Philosophy and Life, "Plato or Machiavelli",
 * It is Machiavellian, in the sense that it revolves around the question of how to maintain power.

Derived terms

 * Machiavellianism
 * Machiavellism

Noun

 * 1) A ruthless schemer.

Adverbs for Machiavellian
shrewdly; craftily; unbelievably; astutely; wickedly; colossally; designingly; subtly; arrantly; dreadfully; archly; crookedly; evasively; viciously; dangerously; alarmingly; curiously; fearfully; insidiously; nefariously; invidiously; profoundly; cleverly; notoriously; deceptively; heinously.

Thesaurus
Artful Dodger, Byzantine, Casanova, Don Juan, Machiavel, Machiavelli, Machiavellianist, Machiavellic, actor, acute, ambidextrous, arch, artful, astute, bamboozler, befuddler, beguiler, behind-the-scenes operator, cagey, calculating, canny, charmer, clever, coconspirator, collusive, connivent, conniver, conniving, conspirator, conspirer, conspiring, contriving, counterfeiter, counterplotter, crafty, crooked, cunning, cute, deceitful, deceiver, deep, deep-laid, deluder, designing, diplomat, diplomatic, diplomatist, dishonest, dissembler, dissimulator, dodger, double, double-dealer, double-dealing, double-faced, double-minded, double-tongued, doublehearted, duper, duplicitous, eminence grise, enchanter, entrancer, exploiter, faithless, faker, false, false-principled, falsehearted, feline, finagler, fooler, forger, foxy, gamesman, gay deceiver, gray eminence, guileful, hoaxer, hypnotizer, influence peddler, ingenious, insidious, intrigant, intriguer, intriguing, inventive, jilt, jilter, joker, jokester, kidder, kingmaker, knowing, leg-puller, logroller, machinator, maneuverer, mesmerizer, misleader, operator, opportunist, pawky, perfidious, plagiarist, plagiarizer, playactor, plotter, plotting, politic, political realist, politician, pork-barrel politician, power broker, practical joker, ragger, ready, resourceful, role-player, schemer, scheming, seducer, serpentine, sharp, shifty, shrewd, slick, slippery, sly, smooth, snaky, sneaky, sophistical, spoofer, stealthy, stratagemical, strategic, strategist, subtile, subtle, supple, tactical, tease, teaser, treacherous, trickish, tricksy, tricky, two-faced, up to, vulpine, wary, wheeler-dealer, wily, wire-puller

Alternative forms

 * machiavellian

Etymology
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.

Adjective

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 * French:
 * German:
 * Italian:


 * Macedonian: макијавелистички
 * Portuguese:
 * Romanian: machiavelic, machiavelici, machiavelice
 * Spanish: