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Expedient vs Practical - What's the difference?

expedient | practical | Synonyms |

Expedient is a synonym of practical.


As nouns the difference between expedient and practical

is that expedient is expedient while practical is (british) a part of an exam or series of exams in which the candidate has to demonstrate their practical ability.

As a verb expedient

is .

As an adjective practical is

based on practice or action rather than theory or hypothesis.

expedient

English

Adjective

(en adjective)
  • Simple, easy, or quick; convenient.
  • Most people, faced with a decision, will choose the most expedient option.
  • * Bible, John xvi. 7
  • It is expedient for you that I go away.
  • * Whately
  • Nothing but the right can ever be expedient , since that can never be true expediency which would sacrifice a greater good to a less.
  • Governed by self-interest, often short-term self-interest.
  • * 1861 , John Stuart Mill,
  • But the Expedient', in the sense in which it is opposed to the Right, generally means that which is ' expedient for the particular interest of the agent himself; as when a minister sacrifices the interests of his country to keep himself in place.
  • (obsolete) Quick; rapid; expeditious.
  • * Shakespeare
  • His marches are expedient to this town.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A method or means for achieving a particular result, especially when direct or efficient; a resource.
  • * 1906 , O. Henry, :
  • He would never let her know that he was aware of the strange expedient to which she had been driven by her great distress.
  • * 2009 , (Diarmaid MacCulloch), A History of Christianity , Penguin 2010, page 709:
  • Depressingly, [...] the expedient of importing African slaves was in part meant to protect the native American population from exploitation.

    practical

    English

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (British) A part of an exam or series of exams in which the candidate has to demonstrate their practical ability
  • Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Based on practice or action rather than theory or hypothesis
  • Jack didn't get an engineering degree, but has practical knowledge of metalworking.
  • Being likely to be effective and applicable to a real situation; able to be put to use
  • Jack's knowledge has the practical benefit of giving us useful prototype parts.
  • Of a person, having skills or knowledge that are practical
  • All in all, Jack's a very practical chap

    Antonyms

    * (based on practice or action) theoretical * (being likely to effective and applicable to a real situation) impractical * (of a person) impractical

    Derived terms

    * practicality * practically