bureaucratic
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of bureaucratic
From the French word bureaucratique, dating back to 1830–40. See bureaucrat, -ic
Explanation
Anything bureaucratic has to do with the business of running an organization — usually not in a very efficient manner. If there are bureaucrats or a bureaucracy involved, go ahead and call it bureaucratic. This adjective is used in a negative sense to describe a person or organization more concerned with following procedures than being guided by common sense. Bureaucratic things usually involve loads of paperwork and nonsensical rules, otherwise known as "red tape" — a connection that originated in the 17th century when official documents were bound together with actual red tape.
Vocabulary lists containing bureaucratic
This Week in Words: September 17 - 24, 2017
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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.
“The City of Los Angeles will always clear bureaucratic barriers, making it easier and more affordable to film in the entertainment capital of the world,” she wrote on X last month.
From Los Angeles Times • May 17, 2026
Olga Kefalogianni said the Greek government did not want visitors to be "burdened" by bureaucratic procedures when entering or leaving the country.
From BBC • May 10, 2026
Some of this is due to the complicated and sometimes bureaucratic system for making claims.
From MarketWatch • May 7, 2026
Current and former Social Security officials have told ProPublica over the past year that the SSI program’s complexities and absurdities remain perhaps the agency’s biggest bureaucratic headache.
From Salon • Apr. 29, 2026
She knew well there had to be such forms of bureaucratic supposition.
From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
