Join free

bureaucracy

English · Thesaurus

AI In plain words

Writing a short explanation…

Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.

bureaucracy

  • /bjʊəˈɹɒk.ɹə.si/ UK
  • /bjʊˈɹɑ.kɹə.si/ Atlantic Canada, US
  • /bjɚˈɹɑ.kɹə.si/ Atlantic Canada, US
  • /bjʊˈɹɒk.ɹə.si/ Canada, dialectal
  • /bjɚˈɹɒk.ɹə.si/ Canada, dialectal
  • /bjʊəˈɹɔk.ɹə si/ Australia
  • /bjʊəˈɹɒk.ɹə.si/ New Zealand
  • [bjʊəˈɹɔ̟k.ɹə.si] New Zealand

Rhymes with -ɒkɹəsi

Where it comes from

From bureau + -cracy, from French bureaucratie, coined by Jean Claude Marie Vincent de Gournay from bureau (“office”) + -cratie (“rule of”).

noun bureaucracies · bureau-ocracy · bureaucratie

  1. countable, uncountable Government by bureaus or their administrators or officers. However, when Britain left the European Union, ferries started to ply a direct sea link from Ireland, to save hauliers from custom's bureaucracy of driving via Britain.
  2. countable, uncountable A system of administration based upon organisation into bureaus, division of labour, a hierarchy of authority, etc., designed to dispose of a large body of work in a routine manner. At that time the administration replaced the system of patronage in the civil service with a bureaucracy.
  3. countable, uncountable The body of officers and administrators, especially of a government. The bureaucracy is expanding to meet the needs of the expanding bureaucracy. (apocryphal quip)
  4. countable, derogatory, uncountable Excessive red tape and routine in any administration, body or behaviour. The head of the civil service promised to clamp down on bureaucracy.

    Similar: papyrocracy

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: bureaucratism, bureaucratic, bureaucratization, bureaucratisation, bureaucrat, officialdom, administrative, administration, paperwork, tape, directors, red-tape, red tape, hierarchy, public administration, civil service

Translations

Every language

noun government by bureaus

Españolburocracia
中文官僚體制 /官僚体制 guānliáo tǐzhì
Portuguêsburocracia
Françaisbureaucratie
DeutschBeamtentum, Bürokratie
Românăbirocrație
Русскийбюрокра́тия bjurokrátija

noun system of administration

Españolburocracia
한국어관료제 gwallyoje
日本語官僚制 kanryōsei
中文官僚 guānliáo, 官僚制 guānliáozhì
हिन्दीअधिकारीवर्ग adhikārīvarg, नौकरशाही naukarśāhī, दफ़्तरशाही daftarśāhī, अफ़सरशाही afsarśāhī
Portuguêsburocracia
Françaisbureaucratie
DeutschVerwaltungsapparat, Bürokratie
Italianoburocrazia
Ελληνικάγραφειοκρατία grafeiokratía
Românăbirocrație
Русскийбюрокра́тия bjurokrátija
Tiếng Việtbọn quan liêu, bộ máy quan liêu
العربيةبِيرُقْرَاطِيَّة bīruqrāṭiyya
עבריתבִּירוֹקרַטִיָה birokrátya

noun body of officers

Españolburocracia
中文官僚體制 /官僚体制 guānliáo tǐzhì
Portuguêsburocracia, oficialismo
DeutschBeamtenapparat

noun excessive red tape

Españolburocracia
中文繁文縟節 /繁文缛节 fánwénrùjié, 形式主義 /形式主义 xíngshìzhǔyì
Portuguêsburocracia
DeutschBürokratisierung, Bürokratismus

Talk about this word

Cite this
MLA

"bureaucracy." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/bureaucracy. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

bureaucracy. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/bureaucracy

Chicago

"bureaucracy." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/bureaucracy.

BibTeX
@misc{bureaucracy_2026,
  title = {bureaucracy},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/bureaucracy},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}