bureaucratic

adjective

bu·​reau·​crat·​ic ˌbyu̇r-ə-ˈkra-tik 

ˌbyər-

: of, relating to, or having the characteristics of a bureaucracy or a bureaucrat

bureaucratic government

a bureaucratic organization

bureaucratic procedures

bureaucratically

ˌbyu̇r-ə-ˈkra-ti-k(ə-)lē 

ˌbyər-

adverb

Examples of bureaucratic in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Scripps researchers looked at the possibility of using this geoengineering over a shorter term in a relatively regional application that shortens the timeline and reduces the bureaucratic complexity of implementing it. — Michael Smolens, San Diego Union-Tribune, 19 July 2026

The chancellor and his team should use this misstep as inspiration to upend the DOE’s profoundly frustrating, bureaucratic and slow procurement system to save taxpayer dollars and get vendors swiftly paid. — Lincoln Restler, New York Daily News, 18 July 2026

When experts talk about the institution’s relationship to the federal government, the world’s largest museum complex can start to sound like a bureaucratic outcast. — Kelsey Ables, The Atlantic, 16 July 2026

Securing additional citizenship, and thereby another passport, requires very specific criteria which can create a maze of legal and bureaucratic requirements. — Lydia Mansel, Travel + Leisure, 12 July 2026

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from French bureaucratique, from bureaucrate bureaucrat or bureaucratie bureaucracy + -ique -ic entry 1

First Known Use

1800, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing bureaucratic

• anti-bureaucratic

Rhymes for bureaucratic

• adiabatic
• aristocratic
• asymptomatic
• axiomatic
• diagrammatic
• diaphragmatic
• electrostatic
• endolymphatic
• epigrammatic
• homeostatic
• idiomatic
• magnetostatic

Kids Definition

bureaucratic

adjective

bu·​reau·​crat·​ic ˌbyu̇r-ə-ˈkrat-ik 

: of, relating to, or having the characteristics of a bureaucracy or bureaucrat

bureaucratically

-ˈkrat-i-k(ə-)lē 

adverb