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

Policy recommendations from Children at Risk include better coordination among the multiple state agencies that regulate and oversee the child care sector, in addition to minimizing red tape and providing public data on where families stand in line for the state’s subsidy waitlist. —Lina Ruiz april 9, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 9 Apr. 2026

But there were other issues beyond Sciame’s control, per these tradesmen — the typical red tape that comes with building in the city. —Sukjong Hong, Curbed, 9 Apr. 2026

More than two dozen agencies and 50 stakeholder groups spent months doing exactly that, producing 111 specific recommendations to cut red tape across environmental review, land-use approvals, and building permitting. —Melanie La Rocca, New York Daily News, 8 Apr. 2026

None of this means that every state regulation is wise or that agriculture should be subjected to endless layers of red tape. —John Cleveland, Boston Herald, 7 Apr. 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