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Machiavelianism

Machiavelianism is the alternative form of Machiavellianism.

Meaning of Machiavellianism

Noun

Machiavellianism (countable and uncountable, plural Machiavellianisms)

  1. The political philosophy of Machiavelli, especially the realist doctrine which emphasizes the maintenance of the state above ethical concerns.
    • "Machiavellianism is a radical type of political realism that is applied to both domestic and international affairs."2010, W. Julian Korab-Karpowicz, Political Realism in International Relations
  2. (countable) A political maneuver that exemplifies the philosophy. Unsavory government politics.
  3. (personality psychology) A psychological construct centered on interpersonal manipulation, lack of empathy, cold affect, and indifference to morality.
    • Machiavellianism refers to interpersonal strategies that advocate self-interest, deception, and manipulation, so it would seem inherently related to core psychopathy and narcissism.2011, Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, Sophie von Stumm, Adrian Furnham, The Wiley-Blackwell Handbook of Individual Differences, John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN

Origin of Machiavelianism

From Machiavelian + -ism.

Questions about Machiavelianism

What is Machiavelianism the alternative form of?
Machiavelianism is the alternative form of Machiavellianism.

Words near Machiavelianism in the dictionary

  1. Machias
  2. Machias Seal Island
  3. Machiasport
  4. Machiavel
  5. Machiavelian
  6. Machiavelianism
  7. Machiavelism
  8. Machiavelli
  9. machiavellian
  10. Machiavellianism
  11. Machiavellianisms

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: Machiavelianism (page history and authors); Machiavellianism (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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