faustian

Thân thiện

A scholar signs a faustian pact with a shadowy figure in his study.

Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Pertaining to or resembling Faust or Faustus: Relating to the character of Faust, a scholar in German legend who makes a pact with the Devil, exchanging his soul for unlimited knowledge and worldly pleasures.
   • Characterized by an insatiable striving for worldly knowledge, power, or success, especially at the sacrifice of spiritual, moral, or ethical values: Describing a bargain, ambition, or pursuit where one is willing to pay a terrible ultimate price for immediate or temporal gain.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • The scientist's Faustian pursuit of a breakthrough led him to ignore all ethical guidelines.
  • The dictator made a Faustian bargain with powerful corporations, trading the nation's resources for political support.
  • The novel explores the Faustian theme of a musician selling his soul for artistic genius.

Advanced Usage

• "Faustian pact/bargain/deal": A specific idiom meaning an agreement in which one sacrifices one's integrity, principles, or long-term well-being for some immediate or worldly advantage.
  • Signing that contract felt like entering into a Faustian bargain; the money was good, but the work was morally reprehensible.
• Used to describe characters, situations, or ambitions in literature, politics, and business that mirror the Faust legend's core conflict between aspiration and morality.

Variants and Related Words

• Faust: (Proper noun) The protagonist of the German legend.
• Mephistophelian (adj): Devilish, cunning, and evil, akin to Mephistopheles, the demon in the Faust story.

Synonyms

• Pact-with-the-devil: Directly referencing the core concept.
• Sell one's soul: An idiomatic phrase with a similar meaning.
• Unscrupulous: Lacking moral principles, though less specific to the trade of soul for gain.
• Overreaching: Extending beyond proper limits, often with negative consequences.

Related Idioms and Phrases

• "Sell one's soul to the devil": The foundational idiom from which the adjective "Faustian" is derived.
  • Critics accused the artist of selling his soul to the devil for commercial success—a truly Faustian choice.
• "A deal with the devil": Another common phrase synonymous with a Faustian bargain.

Học thuật

Adjective

1. pertaining to or resembling or befitting Faust or Faustus especially in insatiably striving for worldly knowledge and power even at the price of spiritual values
   • a Faustian pact with the Devil

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