bureaucrat
noun
Did you know?
In French, a bureau is a desk, so bureaucracy means basically "government by people at desks". Despite the bad-mouthing they often get, partly because they usually have to stick so close to the rules, bureaucrats do almost all the day-to-day work that keeps a government running. The idea of a bureaucracy is to split up the complicated task of governing a large country into smaller jobs that can be handled by specialists. Bureaucratic government is nothing new; the Roman empire had an enormous and complex bureaucracy, with the bureaucrats at lower levels reporting to bureaucrats above them, and so on up to the emperor himself.
Synonyms of bureaucrat
Examples of bureaucrat in a Sentence
Kim-Lien Nguyen, Boston Herald, 29 Nov. 2025
When your money is taken through taxes to support needless bureaucrats, precisely the same situation exists.
—The Editorial Board, Oc Register, 28 Nov. 2025
My father was a bureaucrat, a member first of the Indian Civil Service and then, after Partition, of the civil service of Pakistan.
—Cressida Leyshon, New Yorker, 23 Nov. 2025
These elders privately consulted with leading officials, military commanders, and senior bureaucrats to guide their decision-making and, at times, signal their disapproval.
—Deng Yuwen, Foreign Affairs, 14 Nov. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Bureaucrat.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bureaucrat. Accessed 1 Dec. 2025.
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bureaucrat
noun
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