red tape

noun

: official routine or procedure marked by excessive complexity which results in delay or inaction

bureaucratic red tape

… enterprisers that show how people across the Nation are coping (or not coping) with such problems as unemployment, the budget deficit and Government red tape.

—John Weisman

… pompous officials (often lowly clerks) in love with red tape who delight in obstructing the expedition of what should be simple procedures.

—Norman W. Schur

Initial plans became irretrievably mired in the red tape of building permissions.

—Bella Pollen

Their plan is simple enough and none too glamorous: create a Web site to help people cut through red tape; i.e., pay for parking tickets and so on.

—Sarah Kerr

Examples of red tape in a Sentence

You would not believe the red tape involved in getting the required permits.

Recent Examples on the Web

Debate over permitting reform in the US used to hinge on the contest between renewables and fossil fuels; previous bills have often failed because of lawmakers’ inability to convince both sides of the aisle that cutting red tape for one technology won’t unduly help or hinder another. —Tim McDonnell, semafor.com, 16 Dec. 2025

After about a year and a half of working around the red tape, Gnarly Hustle successfully opened the bar side of their space in August 2024. —Kansas City Star, 16 Dec. 2025

Critics of the law have long insisted that NEPA does more harm than good by acting as red tape, opening the door for extensive legal challenges and slowing domestic infrastructure development. —Callie Patteson, The Washington Examiner, 15 Dec. 2025

The company has been spending more on content pressuring margins, and the pending deal with Warner Brothers has the stock potentially tied up in red tape with the Federal Communications Commission for the foreseeable future. —Todd Gordon, CNBC, 9 Dec. 2025

Word History

Etymology

from the red tape formerly used to bind legal documents in England

First Known Use

1736, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for red tape

• agape
• escape
• landscape
• lenape
• reshape
• seascape
• soundscape
• ape
• cape
• crape
• crepe
• drape

Kids Definition

red tape

noun

: rules and regulations that waste people's time