Skip to main content
bureaucratic

bureaucratic

93 6.7
Full of rules and slow because of formal procedures in government or large organizations
  • adjective
  • /ˌbjʊəroʊˈkrætɪk/
translation icon : burocrático
  • India was also fortunate in that it had the bureaucratic and institutional capacities to take on those challenges.
  • bureaucratic structure
  • bureaucratic institution
  • bureaucratic organization

But these are non elected, unaccountable, bureaucratic woke bodies, Megan.

Autoplay Next

Examples

  • In addition, community colleges have been portrayed as bureaucratic organizations in which administrators play a dominant role.

    Academic text (2008)
  • You know, it's like bureaucratic red tape.

  • You know how you will progress in this bureaucratic hierarchy.

  • Mostly it's the bureaucratic jungle.

  • No, it has to do with whether you're going to follow the bureaucratic process.

  • It is so bureaucratic in government.

  • Innovative education and decision-making is limited by the bureaucratic state throughout the modern world.

    Academic text (1990)
  • There are, however, solutions to the bureaucratic nightmare that confronts many social workers.

    Academic text (2011)
  • The society plans to avoid bureaucratic rigidity by adopting a decentralized structure.

    Academic text (1999)
  • The new policies were criticized for their bureaucratic nature, which delayed important decisions.

Synonyms

governmental
vsbureaucratic
88 3.6

Relating to public bodies that run a country or city

focuses on running organizations with excessive rules and red tape

Antonyms

155 3.4

Able to change or be changed to fit different situations

4 4.4

Not organized in a clear plan or order

Compounds

1 7.2

An official process with many slow, pointless steps that delays decisions

Many strict rules and levels in an organization that slow decisions

How Bureaucratic

stifling
4 5.3
rigid
70 4.2
bureaucratic
93 6.7
administrative
180 4.6
informal
98 3.1

Surface Forms

bureaucratic positive

Morphology

bureaucratic = bureaucrat (transparent) = bureaucrat + ic

The adjective is directly formed from the noun 'bureaucrat' with the adjective-forming suffix '-ic', so the meaning 'relating to bureaucracy or officials' is clear.

Etymology

Bureaucratic starts with bureau, a word for 'desk' or 'office', and it shares a root with democracy, which means 'power' or 'rule'. So bureaucratic originally suggested 'rule by offices' and today describes a system run by officials and many rules, often slow and full of red tape.