red tape

noun

: official routine or procedure marked by excessive complexity which results in delay or inaction

bureaucratic red tape

… enterprisers that show how people across the Nation are coping (or not coping) with such problems as unemployment, the budget deficit and Government red tape.

—John Weisman

… pompous officials (often lowly clerks) in love with red tape who delight in obstructing the expedition of what should be simple procedures.

—Norman W. Schur

Initial plans became irretrievably mired in the red tape of building permissions.

—Bella Pollen

Their plan is simple enough and none too glamorous: create a Web site to help people cut through red tape; i.e., pay for parking tickets and so on.

—Sarah Kerr

Examples of red tape in a Sentence

You would not believe the red tape involved in getting the required permits.

Recent Examples on the Web

French maintained a tight lead against incumbent Jim Wright, a fifth-generation rancher running for his second term whose primary campaign priorities included reducing red tape for new oil production, plugging orphan wells, and defending landowner rights. —Emily Holshouser may 27, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 27 May 2026

Asked about communities recovering from what feel less like 100-year floods than 1,000-year floods, Fenton acknowledged FEMA's red tape. —Nicole Sganga, CBS News, 27 May 2026

Cutting red tape will be embraced, but a cap on international enrollments and a requirement to develop three-year baccalaureate programs will probably receive pushback. —Michael T. Nietzel, Forbes.com, 27 May 2026

Reduce red tape, improve safety, activate vacant storefronts and create an environment where businesses want to invest and workers are compensated fairly. —Mercury News Editorial Board, Mercury News, 26 May 2026

Word History

Etymology

from the red tape formerly used to bind legal documents in England

First Known Use

1736, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for red tape

• agape
• escape
• landscape
• lenape
• reshape
• seascape
• soundscape
• ape
• cape
• crape
• crepe
• drape

Kids Definition

red tape

noun

: rules and regulations that waste people's time