bureaucracy

noun bu·reau·cra·cy \ byu̇-ˈrä-krə-sē , byə- , byər-ˈä- \

|Updated on: 10 Aug 2018

Examples: bureaucracy in a Sentence

Editor's Note: The Roots of bureaucracy

Definition of bureaucracy

plural bureaucracies

1 a : a body of nonelective government officials

b : an administrative policy-making group

2 : government characterized by specialization of functions, adherence to fixed rules, and a hierarchy of authority

3 : a system of administration marked by officialism, red tape, and proliferation

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Examples of bureaucracy in a Sentence

As Europe slipped deeper into the war, the uranium panel twiddled its thumbs. It was so mired in bureaucracy that by the spring of 1940, it had managed to approve only the $6,000 in research funds earmarked for Fermi and Szilard, so they could purchase uranium and graphite for their fission experiments. —Jennet Conant, Tuxedo Park, 2002
In recent books and articles a small but outspoken chorus of former CIA case officers has portrayed the once proudly swashbuckling agency as a timid, politically correct bureaucracy, overly concerned with being held to account by the press and Capitol Hill. —Evan Thomas, Newsweek, 29 Apr. 2002
Proving that even lumbering federal bureaucracies can move quickly when they have to, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) last week took advantage of Congress' extended holiday break to introduce its long-awaited—and, perhaps, long-dreaded—ergonomic standards. —Editor & Publisher, 27 Nov. 1999
She was fed up with all the red tape and bureaucracy.
Both candidates pledge to simplify the state's bloated bureaucracy.

Recent Examples of bureaucracy from the Web

In the days following the election, many U.S. media outlets and pundits have compared AMLO to Trump, pointing to his abrasive and pugilistic style, his political grudges, and his disdain for the Mexican media, bureaucracy, and supreme court.

— jonah shepp, Daily Intelligencer, "AMLO Isn’t Mexico’s Trump – Nor Is He Trump’s Natural Enemy," 5 July 2018
At first, the series seems less a treatise against corrosive changes in Swedish society than a darkly funny and melancholy meditation on the absurdity of Swedish bureaucracy.

— alice bolin, Longreads, "The Daughter as Detective," 26 June 2018
This makes for a complicated, messy web of bureaucracy that immigrant families and their lawyers must try to navigate in the hopes of being reunited.

— madeleine aggeler, The Cut, "How Will Over 2,000 Detained Children Be Reunited With Their Parents?," 25 June 2018
Fragmented oversight of systems now managed regionally would create more bureaucracy, not less.

— michael hiltzik, latimes.com, "Venture investor Tim Draper is back with a pointless plan to split California three ways," 22 June 2018
Into the play’s complex stew Wilson stirs police bias and brutality, frustrating bureaucracy, myths and angels, poverty, criminal activity, sudden violence, humor and the temporary salvation of reconnecting with a soulmate.

— christine dolen, miamiherald, "'Seven Guitars' a riveting revival of August Wilson's take on black life in the 20th century," 12 June 2018
And in a city like New York, these are large, independent bureaucracies that were never designed to share oversight of a single city resource.

— sean patrick cooper, The New Republic, "Is America Ready for the Next Superstorm?," 4 June 2018
State health-care bureaucracies proved effective at resisting out-of-state encroachment.

— robert graboyes, National Review, "Seven Suggestions for the Amazon-Berkshire-JP Morgan Health Project," 13 Feb. 2018
But whether used to exert fair or unfair power, there is also a strange comfort in bureaucracy.

— ian bogost, The Atlantic, "Driving Without a Smartphone," 10 July 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'bureaucracy.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

The Roots of bureaucracy

Bureaucracy was borrowed from the French bureaucratie, which itself was formed by combining bureau (“desk”) and -cratie (a suffix denoting a kind of government). The English word can refer to an entire body of unelected government officials or to the problematic system (often filled with red tape) that may result from administration by bureaucrats. From its earliest appearances, bureaucracy has carried a distinctly negative connotation. An 1815 London Times article, for example, declares: “. . . it is in this bureaucracy, Gentlemen, that you will find the invisible and mischievous power which thwarts the most noble views, and prevents or weakens the effect of all the salutary reforms which France is incessantly calling for.”

Origin and Etymology of bureaucracy

borrowed from French bureaucratie, from bureau bureau + -cratie -cracy

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1815

in the meaning defined at sense 1a

See Words from the same year

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BUREAUCRACY Defined for English Language Learners

bureaucracy

noun

Definition of bureaucracy for English Language Learners

: a large group of people who are involved in running a government but who are not elected
: a system of government or business that has many complicated rules and ways of doing things