administrative

adjective

ad·​min·​is·​tra·​tive əd-ˈmi-nə-ˌstrā-tiv 

-strə-

: of or relating to administration or an administration : relating to the management of a company, school, or other organization

administrative tasks/duties/responsibilities

administrative expenses/costs

a hospital's administrative staff

… these schools are given wide latitude in creating their teaching programs as long as they meet certain academic standards; they are also freed from many of the administrative and hiring rules governing traditional public schools.

—Suzanna Andrews

Synonyms of administrative

• managerial

Examples of administrative in a Sentence

She has an administrative job.

among his other administrative duties is the appointment of transit authority officials

Recent Examples on the Web

Waidbacher was on a commission that recommended the building be used either for a charitable or an official administrative purpose. — CNN Money, 22 July 2026

Adeyemi passed his medical at the end of last week, and the club hopes to make the signing official early this week, as there were still some administrative details to be finalised. — Chris Weatherspoon, New York Times, 21 July 2026

In February, following administrative court rulings in Consorte’s favor, the ministry finally greenlighted the tests, which will be led by a team of scientists, including Consorte, and a member of the National Research Council. — Devorah Lauter, ARTnews.com, 21 July 2026

Then he was promoted to administrative director of the South Region, and later as region superintendent in 2022. — Austin Horn, Miami Herald, 21 July 2026

Word History

Etymology

administr(ation) + -ative

First Known Use

1651, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing administrative

• administrative county
• administrative law

Rhymes for administrative

• accommodative
• accumulative
• adjudicative
• affiliative
• agglutinative
• ameliorative
• appreciative
• assimilative
• associative
• authoritative
• collaborative
• cooperative

Kids Definition

administrative

adjective

ad·​min·​is·​tra·​tive əd-ˈmin-ə-ˌstrāt-iv 

-strət-

: of or relating to administration

an administrative position

Legal Definition

administrative

adjective

ad·​min·​i·​stra·​tive əd-ˈmi-nə-ˌstrā-tiv 

1

: of or relating to the performance of a function : ministerial

administrative communications include…instructions that encourage a jury to continue its deliberations

—National Law Journal

2

: of or relating to the executive branch of a government compare legislative, judicial

3

: of or relating to a government agency

administrative remedies