Jump To:

• demotic
  demotic

  adjective

  of or relating to the ordinary, everyday, current form of a language; vernacular.
• Demotic
  Demotic

  noun

  the spoken form of Modern Greek, now increasingly used in literature Compare Katharevusa

demotic

American  

[dih-mot-ik] / dɪˈmɒt ɪk /

adjective

1. of or relating to the ordinary, everyday, current form of a language; vernacular.

   a poet with a keen ear for demotic rhythms.

2. of or relating to the common people; popular.

3. of, relating to, or noting the simplified form of hieratic writing used in ancient Egypt between 700 b.c. and a.d. 500.

---

noun

1. demotic script.

2. Also called Romaic.  (initial capital letter) the Modern Greek vernacular (distinguished from Katharevusa).

demotic ¹ British  

/ dɪˈmɒtɪk /

adjective

1. of or relating to the common people; popular

2. of or relating to a simplified form of hieroglyphics used in ancient Egypt by the ordinary literate class outside the priesthood Compare hieratic

---

noun

1. the demotic script of ancient Egypt

Demotic ² British  

/ dɪˈmɒtɪk /

noun

1. the spoken form of Modern Greek, now increasingly used in literature Compare Katharevusa

---

adjective

1. denoting or relating to this

Other Word Forms

• demotist
  noun

Etymology

Origin of demotic

1815–25; < Greek dēmotikós popular, plebeian, equivalent to dēmót ( ēs ) a plebeian (derivative of dêmos; see demo-) + -ikos -ic

Explanation

A demotic saying or expression is casual, colloquial, and used by the masses. Some forms of the Greek and Egyptian languages are also called demotic, which will be relevant to you when you get your PhD in Classics. Demotic comes from the Greek word demotikos, meaning "of or for the common people" or "in common use." Members of the aristocracy don’t typically use demotic idioms, but it is often the elite who will point out that something is demotic. Of course, in a classless society, everything ought to be demotic, therefore making it obsolete to designate sayings as demotic. So far, however, demotic is still a relevant term.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

demotic Demotic

Mr. Kidd is obsessed in particular with Oxbridge dons, as the academics at these two British universities are known in demotic parlance.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 30, 2026

A slab from the Roman era was also found with hieroglyphic and demotic inscriptions, which may give more clues once restored.

From Washington Post ● Mar. 7, 2023

Beside the "beautifully and accurately carved" sphinx, archaeologists also found a Roman-era stone slab with demotic and hieroglyphic inscriptions.

From BBC ● Mar. 6, 2023

This collection of linked stories, set on an unnamed Aegean island and featuring a cast of wry, rough-talking Greeks reeling from the country’s economic devastation, showcases Ikonomou’s wit, compassion and infallible ear for the demotic.

From New York Times ● Mar. 21, 2019

One of the most characteristic distinctions of later demotic is the minuteness of the writing.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 9, Slice 1 "Edwardes" to "Ehrenbreitstein" by Various

Another inscription on the vessel is written in Demotic script, a simplified form of ancient Egyptian writing.

From Science Daily ● Dec. 18, 2025

The use of Egyptian hieroglyphs, for example, continued for centuries until it was ultimately replaced by Meroitic, an alpha-syllabic script derived from the Egyptian Demotic script.

From Textbooks ● Apr. 19, 2023

Bearing inscriptions of the same text in Hieroglyphs, Demotic and Ancient Greek, it was used by Frenchman Jean-Francois Champollion to decipher Hieroglyphs from 1822, opening up understanding of ancient Egyptian language and culture.

From Reuters ● Oct. 5, 2022

And the three bands of text — classical Greek, hieroglyphs and an Egyptian shorthand called Demotic — were intended to proclaim the monarch’s achievements in multiple tongues to the peoples of the empire.

From New York Times ● Oct. 19, 2021

The stone bore an inscription in three different kinds of character—the Hieroglyphic, the Enchorial or Demotic, and the ordinary Greek.

From Heroes of Science: Physicists by William Garnett

Related Words

• conversational
• vernacular