bureaucratic
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of bureaucratic
From the French word bureaucratique, dating back to 1830–40. See bureaucrat, -ic
Explanation
Anything bureaucratic has to do with the business of running an organization — usually not in a very efficient manner. If there are bureaucrats or a bureaucracy involved, go ahead and call it bureaucratic. This adjective is used in a negative sense to describe a person or organization more concerned with following procedures than being guided by common sense. Bureaucratic things usually involve loads of paperwork and nonsensical rules, otherwise known as "red tape" — a connection that originated in the 17th century when official documents were bound together with actual red tape.
Vocabulary lists containing bureaucratic
This Week in Words: September 17 - 24, 2017
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Just Mercy
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The Color of Water
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
When Kafka died of tuberculosis in 1924 at age 40, he was virtually unknown; by the late 1930s he was an international phenomenon, his surname a signifier of bureaucratic inhumanity and modern unease.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 15, 2026
Travis Haines, a lieutenant colonel in the Canadian Armed Forces, told the BBC he believes the boost in recruitment is in large part tied to the military reducing bureaucratic hurdles.
From BBC • May 9, 2026
Some of this is due to the complicated and sometimes bureaucratic system for making claims.
From MarketWatch • May 7, 2026
No doubt that would violate bureaucratic rules and air-quality standards, and also might suggest some troubling historical comparisons.
From Salon • May 3, 2026
She slipped into the back of these gatherings—just a tired, heavy, middle-aged black woman searching for a place to rest her feet as she dealt with some bureaucratic runaround.
From "The Best of Enemies" by Osha Gray Davidson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
