bureaucratese

American  

[byoor-uh-kra-teez, -tees, byoo-rok-ruh-] / ˌbyʊər ə kræˈtiz, -ˈtis, byʊˌrɒk rə- /

noun

1. a style of language, used especially by bureaucrats, that is full of circumlocutions, euphemisms, buzzwords, abstractions, etc.

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Etymology

Origin of bureaucratese

bureaucrat + -ese

Example Sentences

In translation, that's bureaucratese for widespread trauma to come.

From Salon • Jun. 6, 2023

She walks out some hours later with a traumatized expression on her face, after flailing in a sea of incomprehensible bureaucratese, unable to extract a single coherent thought from her notes.

From New York Times • Feb. 28, 2020

Hovering over modern discussions of usage is the spectre of George Orwell, whose essay “Politics and the English Language” challenged the degeneracy of bureaucratese.

From The New Yorker • Jan. 30, 2019

The bland bureaucratese of an April 2004 report by the General Accounting Office did not hide harsh conclusions: Overseas missions were draining the guard of its troops, particularly in expert specialties.

From Slate • Sep. 7, 2016

He then turns to the idea of classic style “as an antidote for academese, bureaucratese, corporatese, legalese, officialese, and other kinds of stuffy prose.”

From Washington Post