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

Some ostensible environmental regulations are also holding back new clean energy deployment, and in some cases, the red tape is being cynically weaponized against projects like offshore wind farms. —Umair Irfan, Vox, 22 Apr. 2025

Comprehensive Downsizing The Trump administration has already reignited the deregulatory agenda with a flurry of executive actions targeting red tape and bureaucratic bloat. —Clyde Wayne Crews Jr., Forbes.com, 21 Apr. 2025

Bass, as part of her effort to reduce homelessness, has cut red tape for certain types of affordable housing projects. —David Zahniser, Los Angeles Times, 20 Apr. 2025

Graham credited the Trump administration with helping cut through bureaucratic red tape that often slows recovery efforts in disaster zones. —Jasmine Baehr, FOXNews.com, 19 Apr. 2025

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