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

That’s unhealthy for the body politic — and for voters themselves.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 20, 2024

And it has survived to some degree for more than 150 years, tucked into the cracks of our body politic.

From Seattle Times • Mar. 21, 2024

His silence on the slavery question was strategic, believing as he did that slavery was a cancer on the body politic of America that could not at present be removed without killing the patient.

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