Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Lacking moral principles or ethical standards: Describes a person, action, or behavior that is not guided by or does not adhere to accepted rules of right and wrong. It implies a disregard for honesty, fairness, or integrity.
   • Characterized by unscrupulousness or dishonesty: Suggests a willingness to act in a deceitful, corrupt, or opportunistic manner to achieve personal goals.

Usage and Examples

• Describing a person:
  • The unprincipled politician was known for accepting bribes.
  • She refused to work with such an unprincipled businessman.
• Describing actions or behavior:
  • Their unprincipled tactics involved spreading lies about the competition.
  • The company's unprincipled pursuit of profit led to an environmental disaster.

Advanced Usage

• "Unprincipled ambition": Ambition that is pursued without regard for moral constraints.
  • His unprincipled ambition destroyed many careers on his way to the top.
• "Unprincipled conduct/behavior": A formal way to describe actions that violate ethical norms.
  • The board investigated the CEO for unprincipled conduct.

Variants and Related Words

• Unprincipledness (n, rare): The state or quality of being unprincipled.
• Principle (n): A fundamental truth, law, or rule of conduct that serves as a foundation for a system of belief or behavior. This is the core concept that "unprincipled" lacks.
• Principled (adj): Acting in accordance with morality and ethics; the direct opposite of "unprincipled".
  • He was a principled leader who always kept his promises.

Synonyms

• Unscrupulous: Having or showing no moral principles; not honest or fair.
• Amoral: Lacking a moral sense; unconcerned with the rightness or wrongness of something.
• Dishonest: Behaving or prone to behave in an untrustworthy or fraudulent way.
• Corrupt: Willing to act dishonestly in return for money or personal gain.
• Deceitful: Guilty of or involving deceit; intending to mislead or trick.

Antonyms

• Principled: (of a person or their behavior) acting in accordance with morality and showing recognition of right and wrong.
• Ethical: Relating to moral principles or the branch of knowledge dealing with these.
• Honorable: Deserving of respect or high regard; characterized by integrity.
• Scrupulous: Very concerned to avoid doing wrong; diligent and thorough.

Idioms and Phrases

• "An unprincipled character": A common phrase used to describe a person known for their lack of ethics.
  • In the novel, the villain is a thoroughly unprincipled character.
• "To act in an unprincipled manner": A standard phrase for describing unethical actions.
  • The journalist was fired for acting in an unprincipled manner by fabricating sources.

Adjective

1. having little or no integrity
2. lacking principles or moral scruples
   • freedom from coarse unprincipled calumny- A.E.Stevenson