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

An attorney representing Matthew Mayich’s family said Arizona State University is mishandling the investigation into the hockey player’s collapse and hospitalization and called on members of the coaching staff to be put on administrative leave. — Nathan Fenno, New York Times, 1 Sep. 2026

Within the last few days, the Channahon Police Department also announced an officer allegedly used the Flock camera system for unauthorized purposes and placed the officer on administrative leave. — Michelle Mullins, Chicago Tribune, 1 Sep. 2026

Other jobs on this list include occupations that are largely administrative and deal with handling data or customer service, such as office clerks, secretaries, administrative assistants, customer service reps and tellers. — Mary Walrath-Holdridge, USA Today, 1 Sep. 2026

Drafting, document review, research, scheduling, billing and countless administrative tasks can now run continuously in the background. — Charles Lew, Forbes.com, 1 Sep. 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