body politic

noun

1

: a group of persons politically organized under a single governmental authority

2

archaic : corporation sense 2

3

: a people considered as a collective unit

Examples of body politic in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Some Americans saw things differently, and their prescient warnings form the backbone of Hitchcock’s body politic. — Beverly Gage, New Yorker, 28 Sep. 2026

Score a victory for the city of Seattle, whose World Cup host committee, LGBTQ+ community, and body politic declined to give in to demands that its World Cup Pride Match, held Friday night, go away. — Sean Gregory, Time, 27 June 2026

For Paksa, the science in question was that of post-traumatic reckoning, for individual and body politic alike. — Daniel R. Quiles, Artforum, 1 Mar. 2026

There has never been, and shouldn't be, any acceptance within our body politic of a foreign policy shorn of moral concerns. — Bradley Gitz, Arkansas Online, 9 Feb. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for body politic

• conglomeratic
• extrahepatic
• granulocytic
• intrahepatic
• monozygotic
• actinic
• agnatic
• bailiwick
• bolshevik
• candlestick
• deontic
• firebrick

Legal Definition

body politic

noun

body pol·​i·​tic

-ˈpä-lə-tik

plural bodies politic

: a group of individuals organized under a single governmental authority