bureaucrat

noun

bu·​reau·​crat ˈbyu̇r-ə-ˌkrat 

ˈbyər-

: a member of a bureaucracy

government bureaucrats

Did you know?

In French, a bureau is a desk, so bureaucracy means basically "government by people at desks". Despite the bad-mouthing they often get, partly because they usually have to stick so close to the rules, bureaucrats do almost all the day-to-day work that keeps a government running. The idea of a bureaucracy is to split up the complicated task of governing a large country into smaller jobs that can be handled by specialists. Bureaucratic government is nothing new; the Roman empire had an enormous and complex bureaucracy, with the bureaucrats at lower levels reporting to bureaucrats above them, and so on up to the emperor himself.

Synonyms

• civil servant
• functionary
• mandarin
• public servant

Examples of bureaucrat in a Sentence

the bureaucrats at the town hall seem to think that we need a building permit to build a tree house

Recent Examples on the Web

The idea that France or the United Kingdom would allow another state—let alone some unelected bureaucrat in the European Union—to dictate their nuclear postures is fanciful. —Sumantra Maitra, Foreign Affairs, 4 Nov. 2024

Vought said that independent agencies and unelected bureaucrats and experts wield far too much power while the traditional legislative process is a sham. —Molly Redden, ProPublica, 28 Oct. 2024

Since joining the agency as its first international marketing manager in late 2023, Pilcher — a permanently hurried but endlessly chipper type who’s been in the industry for more than two decades — has been showing off New Jersey to FIFA officials, South Korean bureaucrats, and Irish camera crews. —Will Peischel, Curbed, 7 Oct. 2024

Miss Argentina works as a bureaucrat — which is a Virgo’s dream. —Lisa Stardust, Peoplemag, 6 Sep. 2024

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from French bureaucrate, after bureaucratie — more at bureaucracy, -crat

First Known Use

1832, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

bureaucrat

noun

bu·​reau·​crat ˈbyu̇r-ə-ˌkrat 

: a member of a bureaucracy