bureaucratic

adjective

bu·​reau·​crat·​ic ˌbyu̇r-ə-ˈkra-tik 

ˌbyər-

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

bureaucratic government

a bureaucratic organization

bureaucratic procedures

bureaucratically

ˌbyu̇r-ə-ˈkra-ti-k(ə-)lē 

ˌbyər-

adverb

Examples of bureaucratic in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

When she is summoned back to her hometown to settle the death of an absent father, what should be a brief administrative detour unravels into unresolved debts, institutional inertia, and a decaying body caught in bureaucratic limbo. —Leo Barraclough, Variety, 15 Jan. 2026

The everyday realities of life under the occupation, including the hassles and harassments of bureaucratic delays and security checkpoints, can suddenly become matters of life and death. —Justin Chang, New Yorker, 14 Jan. 2026

Speakers repeatedly pointed to donor frustration, blaming bureaucratic delays and the city’s Park and Recreation Board, whose chair, Arun Agarwal, has resisted allowing the nonprofit Fair Park First to build the park without more vetting. —Devyani Chhetri, Dallas Morning News, 14 Jan. 2026

To now endure censure by overzealous anti-Pretendian crusaders, and banishment by bureaucratic tribal decrees and reactionary blood-quantum rules, feels particularly bitter. —David Treuer, The Atlantic, 13 Jan. 2026

Word History

Etymology

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

First Known Use

1800, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing bureaucratic

• anti-bureaucratic

Rhymes for bureaucratic

• adiabatic
• aristocratic
• asymptomatic
• axiomatic
• diagrammatic
• diaphragmatic
• electrostatic
• endolymphatic
• epigrammatic
• homeostatic
• idiomatic
• magnetostatic

Kids Definition

bureaucratic

adjective

bu·​reau·​crat·​ic ˌbyu̇r-ə-ˈkrat-ik 

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

bureaucratically

-ˈkrat-i-k(ə-)lē 

adverb