as in legalese
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Recent Examples of bureaucratese
Details of new initiatives were bogged down by mind-numbing bureaucratese.
—
Sharon Grigsby, Dallas News, 11 Apr. 2023
The most striking aspect of Putin’s failure to accept responsibility for the Kursk disaster was his retreat into bureaucratese.
—Masha Gessen, The New Yorker, 18 Mar. 2020
As reporter Alfonso Chardy noted at the time, the facility’s mental health treatment center—known in placid bureaucratese as the Krome Transitional Unit (KTU)—had never before been shown to the media.
—Ken Silverstein, The New Republic, 19 Aug. 2019
In that sense, the beige tone of Mr. Mueller’s report — that desiccating bureaucratese denying the events their juice and soundbite-ability — is something of a radical act in this day and age.
—James Poniewozik, New York Times, 25 June 2019
Sharon Grigsby, Dallas News, 11 Apr. 2023
The most striking aspect of Putin’s failure to accept responsibility for the Kursk disaster was his retreat into bureaucratese.
—Masha Gessen, The New Yorker, 18 Mar. 2020
As reporter Alfonso Chardy noted at the time, the facility’s mental health treatment center—known in placid bureaucratese as the Krome Transitional Unit (KTU)—had never before been shown to the media.
—Ken Silverstein, The New Republic, 19 Aug. 2019
In that sense, the beige tone of Mr. Mueller’s report — that desiccating bureaucratese denying the events their juice and soundbite-ability — is something of a radical act in this day and age.
—James Poniewozik, New York Times, 25 June 2019
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bureaucratese
Noun
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Instead, consumers must search about 7,000 words into a privacy policy filled with legalese to find a link to the page.—
CalMatters,
Mercury News,
13 Aug. 2025
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Instead, consumers must search about 7,000 words into a privacy policy filled with legalese to find a link to the page.—
CalMatters,
Oc Register,
12 Aug. 2025
Noun
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The overly earnest character speaks in a hilariously cringey Gen Z self-help psychobabble that continuously grates on Enrique’s nerves.—
Pam Kragen,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
30 May 2025
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Sometimes, such content might be portrayed as being valid psychological science versus non-sensical psychobabble.—
Lance Eliot,
Forbes.com,
11 Apr. 2025
Noun
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Bob Kring DeBary Congressional bill is full of greed The Great Big Beautiful Bill reads like 950 pages of of gobbledygook distilled into four words: Greedy, stingy, mean and short-sighted.—
Letters to the Editor,
The Orlando Sentinel,
2 July 2025
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The six-episode limited series feels like a long movie broken into arbitrary episodes, its ending is mired by digital gobbledygook, and Marvel still doesn’t know how magic makes sense in a universe ruled by advanced technology and literal gods.—
Ben Travers,
IndieWire,
24 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Bureaucratese.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bureaucratese. Accessed 12 Sep. 2025.
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