Words / M / General

machiavellian

adjective/ˌmækiəˈvɛliən/

C1CEFR level
58/100Rarity: uncommon
NeutralRegister

Cunning and unscrupulous in pursuit of power.

A machiavellian scheme to outflank both rivals at once.

Similar: scheming, devious, cynical

Origin: from the political writer Machiavelli.

Topic: Power & politics in General English

Rarity runs from 0 (a word everyone knows) to 100 (almost never seen outside specialist or literary writing). Level is the word's real difficulty on the CEFR scale, from A1 to C2.

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More general words: Power & politics