constituency

noun

con·stit·u·en·cy | \ kən-ˈstich-wən(t)-sē

, -ˈsti-chə-, -ˈsti-chü-ən(t)-\

plural constituencies

Definition of constituency

1a : a body of citizens entitled to elect a representative (as to a legislative or executive position) the governor's liberal constituency

b : the residents in an electoral district The senator's constituency includes a large minority population.

c : an electoral district

2a : a group or body that patronizes, supports, or offers representation creating … a grass-roots constituency for continuing the project— Fred Reed

b : the people involved in or served by an organization (such as a business or institution) … regards its corporate customers as its prime constituency.— Andrew Hacker

Examples of constituency in a Sentence

The senator's constituency includes a large minority population. He was elected to represent a Liverpool constituency.

Recent Examples on the Web

On Thursday, the commission issued a 208-page compilation of votes in every constituency in response to criticism, but some tallies still failed to add up correctly. — Kaweewit Kaewjinda, The Seattle Times, "Thai Election Commission blames software for counting errors," 29 Mar. 2019 As a protestant who overthrew a Catholic, William III has become a hero to Northern Ireland's 20th century unionists, a political constituency that wished to remain a part of the U.K., rather than join the rest of Catholic Ireland. — Chloe Foussianes, Town & Country, "Beyond The Favourite: The Royal Family's Very Queer History," 22 Feb. 2019 Budget discipline in Congress eroded as members faced pressure to bring home the bacon to 535 separate constituencies. — John Steele Gordon, WSJ, "Why We Have So Many Shutdowns," 16 Jan. 2019 But the leader of one key constituency came out against the compromise at midday Wednesday. — BostonGlobe.com, "Legislature moves forward with grand bargain on minimum wage, paid leave and sales tax holiday," 20 June 2018 Even though Trump falls far short of evangelical ideals in terms of both his positions on certain issues and his personal behavior, evangelicals remained one of his most loyal constituencies. — Jeremy Castle, Vox, "Younger evangelicals look an awful lot like older evangelicals post-2016," 12 Nov. 2018 Members of Congress were elected to pass laws beneficial to our nation and reflective of their constituencies. — WSJ, "Judicial Record, Temperament Both Count," 5 Oct. 2018 In interwar Italy liberal governments dithered while the country slid into chaos and the two largest parties, the Socialists and Christian Democrats, were more interested in defending the interests of their particular constituencies than democracy. — Sheri Berman, New York Times, "Can It Happen Here? Madeleine Albright Examines Fascism Then and Now," 20 Apr. 2018 Barricades separated them from the bigger demonstration, and heavily armed police ensured that the two constituencies had limited contact. — Brian Goldstone, The New Republic, "Essential reporting, interpretation, and opinion on politics and culture. Don't miss our latest.," 26 June 2018

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