POLITIC • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Politic

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/pˈɑlətˌɪk/ Listen

noun

Politic n. A politician. (Archaic) "Swiftly the politic goes; is it dark? he borrows a lantern; Slowly the statesman and sure, guiding his feet by the stars."

adjective

Politic adj.

Of or pertaining to polity, or civil government; political; as, the body politic. See under Body. "He with his people made all but one politic body."

Pertaining to, or promoting, a policy, especially a national policy; well-devised; adapted to its end, whether right or wrong; said of things; as, a politic treaty. "Enrich'd with politic grave counsel."

Sagacious in promoting a policy; ingenious in devising and advancing a system of management; devoted to a scheme or system rather than to a principle; hence, in a good sense, wise; prudent; sagacious; and in a bad sense, artful; unscrupulous; cunning; said of persons. "Politic with my friend, smooth with mine enemy."

Synonyms: Wise; prudent; sagacious; discreet; provident; wary; artful; cunning.

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Etymology of 'Politic'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Politic" Quotes from Famous Books

... consider Vernon a pragmatical moralist played upon by a sententious drone, he thought it politic to detach them, and vanquish Clara while she was in the beaten mood, as she had appeared ...

— The Shaving of Shagpat • George Meredith

... large number of them. And so it continued to the end. "Why should I not do it," he would say, "if it gives them pleasure?" Emerson looked on such matters from the stoical point of view as an encouragement to vanity; but he would have been more politic to have gratified his curious, or sentimental admirers; for every autograph he gave would have made ...

— Cambridge Sketches • Frank Preston Stearns

... Imperial decree of September 30th, the German Empire has undergone a basic alteration of its politic leadership. As successor to Count George F. von Hertling, whose services in behalf of the Fatherland deserve the highest acknowledgment, I have been summoned by the Emperor to lead the new government. In accordance with the governmental method now introduced I submit to the Reichstag, publicly ...

— History of the World War - An Authentic Narrative of the World's Greatest War • Francis A. March and Richard J. Beamish

... there, and never be allowed to defile the land of Burke's farm. The police, despite their barrack, which looks strong enough to bear a siege, were obviously unable to quell the people, and it would hardly have been politic to let the latter enjoy a victory; consequently it was determined to employ the military to convoy the police-hut, or rather its disjecta membra, from the ...

— Disturbed Ireland - Being the Letters Written During the Winter of 1880-81. • Bernard H. Becker

... popular demand. It is said that power is an object of such ardent desire to man, that the voluntary surrender of it is absurd in psychology and unknown in history. Lewis XVI. no doubt calculated the probabilities of loss and gain, and persuaded himself that his action was politic even more than generous. The Prussian envoy rightly described him in a despatch of July 31, 1789. He says that the king was willing to weaken the executive at home, in order to strengthen it abroad; ...

— Lectures on the French Revolution • John Emerich Edward Dalberg-Acton

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