All 3 Uses of
expedient
in
Wuthering Heights
- I fear it was wrong, though expedient.
p. 112.6 *expedient = speedy or practical
- He was so obstinate in his resolution, that Heathcliff deemed it expedient to compel from my lips a recapitulation of what had taken place; standing over me, heaving with malevolence, as I reluctantly delivered the account in answer to his questions.†
p. 130.3expedient = convenient, speedy, or practical; or an action that is speedy or practical
- I'll not disguise but you might kill him if you were wild and reckless, and cherished a foolish, fanciful affection for the son of a person who would be glad to have him in his grave; and allowed him to discover that you fretted over the separation he has judged it expedient to make.'†
p. 168.6
Definitions:
-
(1)
(expedient) convenient and practical, but sometimes not the best or most moral choice
-
(2)
(meaning too rare to warrant focus) meaning too rare to warrant focus:
Much more rarely, expedient can also imply that an action was taken for reasons of self-interest rather than for moral reasons.
In the sense of speedy, the word is less commonly used today than in the past; though it may still be used as in "an expedient end" or "an expedient amount of time," or "We are depending upon your expediency."