machiavellian/ˌmæk.i.əˈvɛl.i.ən/EtymologyFrom Machiavelli + -an, from the name of the Italian statesman and writer Niccolò Machiavelli (1469–1527), whose work The Prince (1532) advises that acquiring and exercising power may require unethical methods.adjAttempting to achieve goals by cunning, scheming, and unscrupulous methods, especially in politics.“Iago is the Machiavellian antagonist in William Shakespeare's play Othello.”Related to the philosophical system of Niccolò Machiavelli.“As Dr. Spalding notes, the connection that Washington drew "between private morality and national character, between virtue and happiness, hardly seems Machiavellian."”nounAn unscrupulous schemer.