Expedient means convenient and practical for achieving a particular goal, even if it might not be the best or most honest choice in the long run. When something is expedient, it gets the job done quickly or easily right now, but it might create problems later.

Imagine your teacher asks who broke the classroom microscope. The expedient answer might be to stay quiet and let someone else take the blame, but the right answer is to tell the truth. The expedient choice feels easier in the moment, but it's not the honorable one.

Politicians sometimes make expedient decisions that help them win elections but don't actually solve important problems. A student might find it expedient to copy homework instead of doing it themselves, but this prevents real learning. In business, taking an expedient shortcut might save money today but damage the company's reputation tomorrow.

The word often carries a slightly negative feeling, suggesting that someone chose the easy path over the right path. When people describe something as “politically expedient” or “merely expedient,” they're usually criticizing it. However, expedient can also simply mean practical: finding an expedient solution to fix a leaky pipe means fixing it quickly with what you have on hand, which might be exactly what the situation requires.