as in governmental
of, relating to, or like a nonelective government official or body of government officials
a bureaucratic institution bureaucratic procedures
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Recent Examples of bureaucratic
Lacking reliable translation—bureaucratic, political, and cultural—each side keeps confirming its worst assumptions about the other.
—
Lizzi C. Lee, Time, 17 Oct. 2025
Independent, democratic unions, by contrast, face months or years of bureaucratic resistance.
—Sourcing Journal, 15 Oct. 2025
Long known for its massive scale and bureaucratic complexity, the Pentagon is slowly transforming itself into a more streamlined organization, much like a Silicon Valley company.
—Marco Quiroz-Gutierrez, Fortune, 15 Oct. 2025
The Department of Education building is ugly in a distinctly Washington way—a concrete shoebox more suggestive of bureaucratic toil than of any grand vision of government.
—Emma Green, New Yorker, 13 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for bureaucratic
Lizzi C. Lee, Time, 17 Oct. 2025
Independent, democratic unions, by contrast, face months or years of bureaucratic resistance.
—Sourcing Journal, 15 Oct. 2025
Long known for its massive scale and bureaucratic complexity, the Pentagon is slowly transforming itself into a more streamlined organization, much like a Silicon Valley company.
—Marco Quiroz-Gutierrez, Fortune, 15 Oct. 2025
The Department of Education building is ugly in a distinctly Washington way—a concrete shoebox more suggestive of bureaucratic toil than of any grand vision of government.
—Emma Green, New Yorker, 13 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for bureaucratic
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bureaucratic
Adjective
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The project, called the MARS-V Project, is under development by MARS-V, a non-governmental organization based in Mongolia’s capital, Ulaanbaatar.—
Rosanna Philpott,
CNN Money,
24 Oct. 2025
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Officer Ronald Foy was indicted for official oppression, officer William Hulslander for official oppression and tampering with a governmental record, and former officer Joel Weinstein for tampering with a governmental record, according to a news release from the Denton Police Department.—
Shambhavi Rimal,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
24 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Because parliament was riven among pro-democracy parties, the communists, and the Nazis, Papen was able to govern by emergency decree But parliament could still topple his government with a vote of no confidence, and thus Papen needed the parliamentary parties not to actively oppose him.—
Time,
Time,
23 Oct. 2025
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In 2011, mass protests broke out in response to parliamentary elections that showed signs of vote-rigging.—
Tetiana Kotelnykova,
The Atlantic,
22 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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People are also very concerned about quality, even though most are satisfied with their own specialists and care providers, there are several administrative inefficiencies that people are concerned about and other factors.—
Jasmine Laws,
MSNBC Newsweek,
24 Oct. 2025
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The officers involved were placed on administrative leave, which is standard protocol after a shooting involving police.—
Charlotte Observer,
Charlotte Observer,
24 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Bureaucratic.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bureaucratic. Accessed 28 Oct. 2025.
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