Synonyms

body politic

American

noun

Political Science.

a people regarded as a political body under an organized government.

body politic British

noun

the people of a nation or the nation itself considered as a political entity; the state

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of body politic

1425–75; late Middle English bodi politik

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.

Those insults are fed intravenously and instantaneously into the body politic due to our interconnectivity.

From Salon • Feb. 6, 2026

It was the most extreme expression of a wound to the body politic that has been allowed to fester.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 14, 2025

For example, the Vietnam War wound down and no longer was this gaping wound on the body politic.

From Slate • Sep. 12, 2025

We are affirmed in the knowledge that we are the body politic.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 6, 2025

Or if one wished to think biologically rather than architecturally, the body politic had yet to develop its immunities to the political diseases afflicting all new nations.

From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023