bureaucratic

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adjective bu·reau·crat·ic \ ˌbyu̇r-ə-ˈkra-tik , ˌbyər- \

Definition of bureaucratic

:of, relating to, or having the characteristics of a bureaucracy or a bureaucrat

bureaucratic government

a bureaucratic organization

bureaucratic procedures

—

bureaucratically

play \-ti-k(ə-)lē\ adverb

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Recent Examples of bureaucratic from the Web

But, the judge and prosecutors say, due to bureaucratic confusion, the judiciary and the prosecution each thought the other had done it.

— carol rosenberg, miamiherald, "Defense attorneys tell judge to quit Sept. 11 trial over destroyed CIA Black Site evidence," 25 Aug. 2017
Her stepson, Braden, came to live with her and her husband in the spring — a transition that left the boy with a three-month gap in his Medicaid coverage due to a bureaucratic error.

— lisa gillespie, Kaiser Health News, "Will GOP Pay A Price For Trying To Take Health Care Benefits From Voters?," 24 Aug. 2017
The Deep State - The successful outcome of cultural Marxism is a bureaucratic state beholden to no one, certainly not the American people.

— charles p. pierce, Esquire, "This Is Pure, Unadulterated American Crazy," 11 Aug. 2017
Bureaucratic changes at NASA could create an opening for his view, which some Curiosity team members share.

— paul voosen, Science | AAAS, "With planetary protection office up for grabs, scientists rail against limits to Mars exploration," 3 Aug. 2017
This could make for grim reading except that Dalrymple, besides writing in limpid, elegant English, has an eye for the absurd, especially the absurdity of bureaucratic rigmarole.

— ian tuttle, National Review, "The Welfare Culture and Its Discontents," 1 Aug. 2017
Up until July 15th, Mr Trump had put 210 names to the Senate for consideration, according to numbers provided by the Partnership for Public Service, a non-partisan group that tracks bureaucratic hiring.

— The Economist, "Presidential lethargy, not Democratic obstinacy, is to blame," 20 July 2017
Bureaucratic Tweaks As a candidate, Mr. Trump vowed to wage an all-out assault on the federal bureaucracy.

— New York Times, "Trump Says He Has Signed More Bills Than Any President, Ever. He Hasn’t.," 17 July 2017
While Gonzalez has made national headlines with a few high-profile moves so far – such as his marijuana diversion policy – these days most of his time is spent dealing with the bureaucratic minutiae that come with running a small government office.

— henry gass, The Christian Science Monitor, "Meet a new breed of prosecutor," 17 July 2017

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

Origin and Etymology of bureaucratic

borrowed from French bureaucratique, from bureaucrate bureaucrat or bureaucratie bureaucracy + -ique ¹-ic

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First Known Use: 1800

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Other Government and Politics Terms

agent provocateur, agitprop, autarky, cabal, egalitarianism, federalism, hegemony, plenipotentiary, popular sovereignty, socialism

BUREAUCRATIC Defined for English Language Learners

bureaucratic

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adjective

Definition of bureaucratic for English Language Learners

: using or connected with many complicated rules and ways of doing things : of, relating to, or like a bureaucracy or bureaucrat

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See words that rhyme with bureaucratic Spanish Central: Translation of bureaucratic Nglish: Translation of bureaucratic for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of bureaucratic for Arabic speakers

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