bureaucrats

noun

plural of bureaucrat
as in officials
a worker in a government agency the bureaucrats at the town hall seem to think that we need a building permit to build a tree house

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of bureaucrats Politicians can seize headlines, bureaucrats can push papers, and voters can dig into local hegemony. — David Bloomfield, New York Daily News, 1 Nov. 2026 When courts signal to those same bureaucrats that fees won't be awarded, noncompliance costs them literally nothing. — Arkansas Online, 30 Oct. 2026 This is how a senior diplomat can lecture British bureaucrats about North Korea’s victimhood one day and then flee North Korea with his entire family a few weeks later. — Jieun Baek, Foreign Affairs, 30 Oct. 2026 Vying for dominance as well are the haughty, self-serving bureaucrats of the area’s bustling capital of South Wood (Jemaine Clement, Marc Evan Jackson), who pull their political strings from the relative safety of the grand Pittock Mansion. — Los Angeles Times, 23 Oct. 2026 Half of them want to hand health care over to government bureaucrats, the other half to corporate bureaucrats. — Wcco Staff, CBS News, 13 Oct. 2026 Modern-day courtiers and princes–to say nothing of bureaucrats–should not be the ones deciding what gets made and who gets to see it. — Christopher Koopman, Fortune, 9 Oct. 2026 These are scientists, academics, and bureaucrats speaking with their own distinct terminology and often talking past one another. — Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 6 Oct. 2026 At the same time, some critics worried that the Obama-era guidance had gone too far, tasking college bureaucrats with investigating criminal allegations and diluting due process. — Lauren Mascarenhas, CNN Money, 30 Sep. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bureaucrats
  1. officials
  2. employees
  3. clerks
  4. functionaries
  5. workers
Noun
  • County officials estimated the increase would generate about $250,000 annually for the county’s general fund.
    — Daniel Lempres, Sacbee.com, 4 Nov. 2026
  • Democrats fear interference and voter intimidation as his Justice Department threatens to prosecute local election officials.
    — Jill Colvin, Chicago Tribune, 4 Nov. 2026
Definition of officials
Noun
  • Instead, key employees billed taxpayers for air travel and hotel expenses while commuting from Denver and Texas to the Sacramento office.
    — Julie Watts, CBS News, 5 Nov. 2026
  • Samsung has been monitoring where certain departing employees went — to signal to remaining staff that moving to competitors would be difficult — according to a former employee.
    — Jenny Lee, CNBC, 5 Nov. 2026
Definition of employees
Noun
  • And while most early in-person voting sites wrapped up on Sunday, local clerks could extend early voting into Monday.
    — Paula Wethington, CBS News, 2 Nov. 2026
  • The procedural dispute centers on a requirement to distribute amendment text to circuit court clerks for public posting, which lawmakers retroactively repealed.
    — Gabrielle M. Etzel, The Washington Examiner, 30 Oct. 2026
Definition of clerks
Noun
  • Its magical forest is filled with talking animals, tree-worshipping mystics, scheming functionaries, and the Dowager Governess (Carey Mulligan), an enchantress who commands an army of uniformed coyotes.
    — Alison Willmore, Vulture, 23 Oct. 2026
  • Both Washington and Mexico City have launched crackdowns against a complex web of unscrupulous functionaries, front companies and document fraudsters, among others.
    — Foreign Correspondent, Los Angeles Times, 3 Aug. 2026
Definition of functionaries
Noun
  • Parks workers who don't comply with the new policy could face discipline, officials said, adding, the policy also instructs them to not engage in any verbal or physical altercations with ICE agents.
    — Jesse Zanger, CBS News, 2 Nov. 2026
  • People who earn at least 50,000 pounds ($67,000) a year will only have to wait five years, as will public-sector workers including doctors, nurses and teachers.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 2 Nov. 2026
Definition of workers

Browse Nearby Words

bureaucratic
bureaucrats
bureaus
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Cite this Entry

“Bureaucrats.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bureaucrats. Accessed 8 Nov. 2026.

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