filibuster
Americannoun
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filibusters
plural
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U.S. Politics.
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the use of irregular or obstructive tactics by a member of a legislative assembly to prevent the adoption of a measure generally favored or to force a decision against the will of the majority.
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an exceptionally long speech, as one lasting for a day or days, or a series of such speeches to accomplish this purpose.
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a member of a legislature who makes such a speech.
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an irregular military adventurer, especially one who engages in an unauthorized military expedition into a foreign country to foment or support a revolution.
verb (used without object)
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filibusters,
present (3rd person singular)
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filibustered,
past participle, past
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filibustering
present participle
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U.S. Politics. to impede legislation by irregular or obstructive tactics, especially by making long speeches.
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to act as an irregular military adventurer, especially for revolutionary purposes.
verb (used with object)
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filibusters,
present (3rd person singular)
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filibustered,
past participle, past
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filibustering
present participle
noun
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the process or an instance of obstructing legislation by means of long speeches and other delaying tactics
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Also called: filibusterer. a legislator who engages in such obstruction
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a buccaneer, freebooter, or irregular military adventurer, esp a revolutionary in a foreign country
verb
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to obstruct (legislation) with delaying tactics
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(intr) to engage in unlawful and private military action
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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filibustersimple
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filibusterssimple
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have filibusteredperfect
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has filibusteredperfect
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am filibusteringprogressive
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are filibusteringprogressive
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is filibusteringprogressive
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have been filibusteringperfect progressive
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has been filibusteringperfect progressive
Past
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filibusteredsimple
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had filibusteredperfect
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was filibusteringprogressive
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were filibusteringprogressive
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had been filibusteringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of filibuster
First recorded in 1580–90; from Spanish filibustero, from Middle French flibustier, variant of fribustier; see freebooter
Explanation
As a verb, filibuster means "to obstruct legislation by talking at great length." As a noun, it can refer to that oppositional speech. "The Senator prevented a vote on the bill by reading the dictionary from aardvark to zyzzyva." As a parliamentary tactic, the filibuster dates back to at least the first century B.C.E. The rules of the Roman Senate required that all business must be completed by nightfall, and, on more than one occasion, the senator Cato the Younger spoke until dark to delay a vote. In the Parliament of the United Kingdom, a minister may "talk out" a bill, but his speech must pertain to the bill. In the United States, by contrast, a Senator may forestall action on a bill by speaking on any topic.
Vocabulary lists containing filibuster
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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:
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has suggested Congress could enact the idea through reconciliation, a process lawmakers used to pass a tax and spending law last year and avoid the filibuster.
From Barron's ● Apr. 30, 2026
On the topic of the legislative filibuster, put to one side the matter of court and cabinet nominations.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 18, 2026
The talking filibuster doesn’t provide a way around this.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 11, 2026
That pain-free approach has changed the very nature of the filibuster, Ornstein said, and transformed how the Senate operates, much to its detriment.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 11, 2025
There was even a type of speech called the filibuster, whose sole purpose was to waste time.
From "The Interrupted Tale" by Maryrose Wood
The 60-year-old lawyer has pledged to protect "natural wealth" from "21st-century filibusters who want to privatise everything" if she wins.
From BBC ● Nov. 30, 2025
Justice John Paul Stevens pressed Bopp on whether the ads were genuinely intended to influence Sen. Feingold’s stance on filibusters.
From Slate ● Oct. 21, 2025
Together they ruminate about the good old days of L.A. when they’re not storming city council meetings with dramatic filibusters about bus schedules.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 9, 2024
During the debate, he filibusters with fabricated stories about his nonexistent children and defends empty stances simply to drain his audience of their will to live.
From Salon ● Aug. 4, 2023
The United States Government made some pretence of moderating the zeal of the Juntas, and spent many million dollars in endeavours to prevent the departure of filibusters, to join the rebel forces.
From Cuba Past and Present by Richard Davey
The resolution cannot be filibustered, and needs just a simple majority in the House and Senate to pass.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 12, 2024
Three times, the women in the Senate and three Republican male colleagues successfully filibustered.
From New York Times ● May 23, 2023
The defeat drew national headines in no small part because of how it went down: The only five women in the Senate, three of whom are Republicans, filibustered the bill into oblivion.
From Salon ● May 8, 2023
In winning confirmation, Mr. Dellinger overcame the opposition of his two home-state Republican senators, Jesse Helms and Lauch Faircloth, who briefly filibustered his nomination.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 17, 2022
He had fought through the World War, served under Kemal Pasha in Turkey, helped the Riffs in Morocco, filibustered in South America and handled a machine-gun for revolutionary forces in Mexico.
From The Heads of Apex by George Henry Weiss
Leadbeater has said the majority of peers back her proposals but that a small group of opponents were trying to talk the bill out, also known as filibustering.
From BBC ● Jan. 30, 2026
Ms. Willis’s filibustering whirlwind subsided as she waved a hand in exasperation.
From New York Times ● Mar. 11, 2024
As the exchange continued, Conway mistakenly referred to Honig as "Elliot" and Honig accused Conway of "filibustering" and engaging in "pretzel logic."
From Salon ● Dec. 28, 2023
The filibustering, formally one of the Dodgers’ allotted five mound visits for the game, proved effective.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 5, 2023
"My kid," Hambro said, "filibustering against going to bed. A real sea lawyer, that kid."
From "Invisible Man" by Ralph Ellison
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.
