unprincipled

adjective

ˌən-ˈprin(t)-s(ə-)pəld How to pronounce unprincipled (audio)
Definition of unprinciplednext
as in immoral
not guided by or showing a concern for what is right an unprincipled businessman who made a lot of money—and didn't care how he did it

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of unprincipled How pathetically far this blithering, unprincipled piece of trash has gone to endanger other lives, to expressly distract and deflect from his own wicked deeds, and to further benefit his grifting family’s larcenously enlarged bounties. — Voice Of The People, New York Daily News, 8 Mar. 2026 In every era a certain kind of unprincipled demagogue driven by an insatiable need for attention and a sense of what will capture the public’s imagination rises to the fore. — Mark Lilla, The New York Review of Books, 5 Mar. 2026 In the past, that’s opened small businesses to frivolous lawsuits filed by unprincipled lawyers that file massive lawsuits and offer quick settlements. — Erica Goldstein, Boston Herald, 9 Sep. 2025 Rule by ‘ambitious, and unprincipled men’ Partisanship is the primary problem for the American republic, according to Washington. — Robert A. Strong, The Conversation, 8 Sep. 2025 See All Example Sentences for unprincipled
Recent Examples of Synonyms for unprincipled
  1. immoral
  2. ruthless
  3. unscrupulous
  4. corrupt
Adjective
  • Convince people that an innocent person represents an existential threat, furnish them with a frightening conspiracy theory about an immoral enemy, and some may become willing to kill.
    — Maxwell Adler, Vanity Fair, 27 Oct. 2026
  • In those cases, your cause is so just that you are warranted to be immoral in protecting it.
    — Jordi Graupera, New Yorker, 22 Oct. 2026
Definition of immoral
Adjective
  • Today, it is widely known that coal miners of the 19th and early 20th centuries experienced ruthless exploitation and hazardous working conditions.
    — Marcus Librizzi, The Conversation, 26 Oct. 2026
  • Involuntary bumping is more ruthless, denying boarding to passengers in a joyless game of musical plane seats.
    — Andrea Sachs, Washington Post, 24 Oct. 2026
Definition of ruthless
Adjective
  • Some agents joined the unscrupulous agent and formed a sub-colony of cheaters.
    — Noah Giansiracusa, Time, 26 Oct. 2026
  • The district judge confined Biddy and most of the Black children in the county jail, ostensibly for their own protection from their unscrupulous enslaver.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 15 Oct. 2026
Definition of unscrupulous
Adjective
  • Meanwhile, Democrats are strongly opposed to the kind of corrupt authoritarian government that Republicans seem unwilling to even speak out against.
    — Chicago Tribune, Chicago Tribune, 28 Oct. 2026
  • The policy aims to make cadres more disciplined, effective and less corrupt.
    — KANIS LEUNG, Arkansas Online, 27 Oct. 2026
Definition of corrupt

Browse Nearby Words

unpretty
unprincipled
unprintable
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Cite this Entry

“Unprincipled.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unprincipled. Accessed 30 Oct. 2026.

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