body politic

American

noun

Political Science.

a people regarded as a political body under an organized government.

body politic British

noun

the people of a nation or the nation itself considered as a political entity; the state

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of body politic

1425–75; late Middle English bodi politik

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:

body politic

You can see something similar in the body politic, when the sudden appearance of something new and confusing kicks societal defenses into overdrive.

From Salon ● Sep. 11, 2026

Social media and AI harm the body politic in ways Tocqueville and Lincoln couldn’t possibly foresee.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 2026

What hope of freedom was there unless Black Americans were accepted as full members of the body politic?

From Slate ● Oct. 7, 2025

We are affirmed in the knowledge that we are the body politic.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 6, 2025

Or if one wished to think biologically rather than architecturally, the body politic had yet to develop its immunities to the political diseases afflicting all new nations.

From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023