bureaucracy

CEFRB2

/bjʊəˈɹɒk.ɹə.si/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    A system of government managed through many offices and rules.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    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.

Examples

  • Bureaucracy is a giant mechanism operated by pygmies.

  • The bureaucracy is expanding to meet the needs of an expanding bureaucracy.

At a glance

Sits at B2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
4

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. The body of officers and administrators, especially of a government.

  2. Government by bureaus or their administrators or officers.

  3. Excessive red tape and routine in any administration, body or behaviour.

More examples

In context

  • The bureaucracy is expanding to meet the needs of the expanding bureaucracy.

  • At that time the administration replaced the system of patronage in the civil service with a bureaucracy.

  • The head of the civil service promised to clamp down on bureaucracy.

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The slow approval process frustrated everyone due to the excessive blank in the agency.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

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