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.

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

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

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 6, 2025

And if the fish happens to be so contaminated it will poison the body politic, you’ll take the chicken.

From Seattle Times • Dec. 30, 2023

It is, by design, as detached as possible from the body politic.

From Slate • Jul. 13, 2023

Through The Mecca I saw that we were, in our own segregated body politic, cosmopolitans.

From "Between the World and Me" by Ta-Nehisi Coates

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