bureaucrat

American  

[byoor-uh-krat] / ˈbyʊər əˌkræt /

noun

1. an official of a bureaucracy.

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

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bureaucrat British  

/ ˈbjʊərəˌkræt, bjʊəˈrɒkrəˌtɪzəm /

noun

1. an official in a bureaucracy

2. an official who adheres to bureaucracy, esp rigidly

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bureaucrat Cultural  

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).)

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Other Word Forms

• bureaucratism noun

Etymology

Origin of bureaucrat

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

Example Sentences

It continued: “Independent grocers are proud economic drivers, creating local jobs and generating tax revenue, but they need certainty and common sense, not more costly red tape handed down by bureaucrats.”

From Salon

Just silver, sitting there, quietly appreciating while bureaucrats in Beijing shuffle export applications into the “pending” pile.

From MarketWatch

"But these were exceptions to the rule - relying on individual brilliance rather than a system that will function even after the bureaucrat is long gone," says Mr Bisen.

From BBC

What had been a public trust became an internal conversation among bureaucrats, largely shielded from public scrutiny.

From The Wall Street Journal

Their intended audience includes national security bureaucrats in the U.S. and abroad and the think-tankers and journalists obliged by a sense of professional responsibility to at least scan these generally leaden, cliché-ridden products of groupthink.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

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