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
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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.
However, since his death in January, his wife Fiona has been caught up in a bureaucratic nightmare.
From BBC • May 18, 2026
The ordeal eventually led Ms. Müller to emigrate to West Berlin in 1987, a bureaucratic torment that she describes here in deliberately tedious detail, to mirror the experience.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 8, 2026
Some of this is due to the complicated and sometimes bureaucratic system for making claims.
From MarketWatch • May 7, 2026
No doubt that would violate bureaucratic rules and air-quality standards, and also might suggest some troubling historical comparisons.
From Salon • May 3, 2026
The problem with the passives that bog down bureaucratic and academic prose is that they are not selected with these purposes in mind.
From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker
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.
