bureaucrat

[byoor-uh-krat]

noun

1. an official of a bureaucracy.

2. an official who works by fixed routine without exercising intelligent judgment.

bureaucrat

/ ˈbjʊərəˌkræt, bjʊəˈrɒkrəˌtɪzəm /

noun

1. an official in a bureaucracy

2. an official who adheres to bureaucracy, esp rigidly

bureaucrat

1. Someone who works in or controls a bureaucracy. The term is often used negatively to describe a petty, narrow-minded person. (See also conformity and organization man (see also organization man).)

Other Word Forms

• bureaucratism noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of bureaucrat¹

From the French word bureaucrate, dating back to 1835–45. See bureau, -crat

Example Sentences

"We and our allies will neither be commanded nor controlled. We are not going to let a group of bureaucrats in Beijing try to manage the global supply chain."

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But in 2021, a low-level National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration bureaucrat banned anyone from swimming within 50 yards of Hawaiian spinner dolphins.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Now Vought has proposed using the current government shutdown as an opportunity to fire thousands of bureaucrats permanently instead of merely furloughing them temporarily.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Ms. Takaichi isn’t the bureaucrats’ cup of tea, and whether she can bend them to her will remains unclear.

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Yet EU bureaucrats struggle to go against their instincts, and instead of lowering costs and pursuing deregulation, Brussels doubles down on its climate agenda at the world’s expense.

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Related Words

• administrator 
• civil servant 
• functionary 
• politician 
• public servant