SYNONYMS AND RELATED EXPRESSIONS
unprincipled
adjective
Not guided by ethical standards or a sense of right conduct.
Local English device voice, when available. This is not a recorded dictionary pronunciation.
Without ethical restraint
Closest synonyms
Related words and expressions
These extend or explain the idea and may require a different sentence structure.
Usage distinction
Return to topUnprincipled criticizes a lack of guiding ethical standards. Opportunistic can describe taking opportunities without necessarily acting dishonestly.
CHECK THE MEANING IN CONTEXT
See unprincipled in use
An unprincipled negotiator concealed a crucial condition in the agreement.
The workshop's chair objected to the coordinator's hypocrisy: he had repeatedly praised transparency while concealing the conflicting promises. She considered his demand that volunteers pay an undisclosed penalty to recover their own equipment unconscionable. Such an unprincipled response would add another wrong to the original deception.
Compare an alternative with the original word in each passage. Shared meanings do not make every pair interchangeable.
Synonym reference scope and sources
The groups distinguish the senses selected for this study entry. Closest synonyms and broader related expressions have separate labels. The listed sources support lexical selection; not every phrase is a direct quotation from a source.
How the synonym reference was prepared / WordNet 3.0 license