expedient
/ɪkˈspiːdi.ənt/adjective, noun
expedient is spelled E-X-P-E-D-I-E-N-T. The wrong spelling people search most is expediant: about 170 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 11 of all searches for the word. Expedient is an adjective meaning “Suitable to effect some desired end or the purpose intended”.
How many letters and syllables are in expedient?
| Letters | 9: E-X-P-E-D-I-E-N-T |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 1 million words; the 35,748th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 1; the most searched, expediant, about 170 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).
How do you spell expedient?
Expedient is spelled E-X-P-E-D-I-E-N-T. One wrong spelling is searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 11 of the searches for expedient in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is expedient?
Expedient appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 35,748th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce expedient?
- /ɪkˈspiːdi.ənt/
Expedient has 4 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-expedient.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of expedient
- more expedient comparative
- most expedient superlative
- expedients plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does expedient mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Suitable to effect some desired end or the purpose intended.
Most people, faced with a decision, will choose the most expedient option.
- 2
Affording short-term benefit, often at the expense of the long-term.
- 3
Governed by self-interest, often short-term self-interest.
- 4
obsoleteExpeditious, quick, rapid.
noun
- 1
A method or means for achieving a particular result, especially when direct or efficient; a resource.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Expedient in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | angebracht, opportun, hilfreich, passend, zielführend, zweckmäßig |
| French | expédient |
| Portuguese | expediente |
| Spanish | conveniente , expediente |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does expedient come from?
From Middle English expedient, from Old French expedient, from Latin expediens (stem expedient-), present participle of expedire (“to bring forward, to dispatch, to expedite; impers. to be profitable, serviceable, advantageous, expedient”), from ex (“out”) + pēs (“foot, hoof”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).