constituency
Americannoun
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a body of constituents; the voters or residents in a district represented by an elective officer.
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the district itself.
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any body of supporters, customers, etc.; clientele.
noun
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the whole body of voters who elect one representative to a legislature or all the residents represented by one deputy
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a district that sends one representative to a legislature
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( as modifier )
constituency organization
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Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of constituency
First recorded in 1825–35; constitu(ent) + -ency
Explanation
If you're an elected official, your constituency is the group of people whose interests you were elected to represent. A constituency can be described in general as the population living in a district, state, or region, but it can also be any smaller section of that population, such as individuals or small groups advocating for specific issues. Your "main constituency" usually refers to the people whose needs you feel most strongly about, or the people who are most loyal to you.
Vocabulary lists containing constituency
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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The Legislative Branch, Sections 1–3
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This Week In Words: December 7-13, 2019
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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.
See Examples For:
Or do the feelings of his Leave constituency, Makerfield, trump all?
From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026
The constituency of Maidstone and the Weald became Maidstone and Malling in 2024.
From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026
That step put the Fed on a similar cadence with the European Central Bank, which also has a large, diverse constituency.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 10, 2026
Residents of the Essex constituency not already on the electoral register have until July 28 to apply for a vote.
From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2026
The motivation for him to change his mind, they felt, was a desire to appease a constituency whipped into a frenzy over high school football.
From "Friday Night Lights: A Town, A Team, And A Dream" by H.G. Bissinger
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The text also demonstrates "an interest in engaging Congress to broaden constituencies of support for the partnership", said Threlkeld.
From Barron's ● Jul. 17, 2026
I expect them, like most of their colleagues, to respond to their constituencies.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 8, 2026
Forrester’s Proulx noted differences in attitudes toward the deal among the various constituencies.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 30, 2026
Past prime ministers, including Sir Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, have spent some time away from London in their constituencies, but those around Burnham say his arrangements would be different to the norm.
From BBC ● Jun. 30, 2026
“To be a child of the Third World is to be aware of the many different constituencies you have and how honesty and truth must always depend on context.”
From "Americanah" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
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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.