Wiktionary:Word of the day/August 28

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Word of the day
for August 28
Faustian bargain n
  1. (idiomatic) An agreement in which a person abandons his or her spiritual values or moral principles in order to obtain knowledge, wealth or other benefits.
  2. (idiomatic) A deal in which one focuses on present gain without considering the long-term consequences.

German writer and statesman Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, whose play Faust is widely regarded as his magnum opus and the greatest work of German literature, was born on this day 270 years ago in 1749.

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