51Թ

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View synonyms for

bureaucracy

[byoo-rok-ruh-see]

noun

plural

bureaucracies 
  1. government by many bureaus, administrators, and petty officials.

  2. the body of officials and administrators, especially of a government or government department.

  3. excessive multiplication of, and concentration of power in, administrative bureaus or administrators.

  4. administration characterized by excessive red tape and routine.



bureaucracy

/ ʊəˈɒəɪ /

noun

  1. a system of administration based upon organization into bureaus, division of labour, a hierarchy of authority, etc: designed to dispose of a large body of work in a routine manner

  2. government by such a system

  3. government or other officials collectively

  4. any administration in which action is impeded by unnecessary official procedures and red tape

“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

bureaucracy

  1. A formal, hierarchical organization with many levels in which tasks, responsibilities, and authority are delegated among individuals, offices, or departments, held together by a central administration. According to many sociologists and anthropologists, the development of bureaucratic organizations is necessary for the emergence of any modern civilization. (See Max Weber.)

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Today, the term bureaucracy suggests a lack of initiative, excessive adherence to rules and routine, red tape (see also red tape), inefficiency, or, even more serious, an impersonal force dominating the lives of individuals. (See Big Brother is watching you.)
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51Թ History and Origins

Origin of bureaucracy1

First recorded in 1810–20; bureau + -cracy, modeled on French bureaucratie
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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

Nasa's critics say that since then the space agency has become a bloated, unfocussed bureaucracy which routinely goes massively over budget in its space missions and wastes taxpayer's money.

From

Picking up her father’s remains from a Massachusetts funeral home, Carrie begins her journey through the mundane bureaucracy of grief.

From

Ultimately, the mental health break and human connection is what online communities like ‘Laid Off’ offer its members: without the gloss or pretenses of traditional social media or the unproductive bureaucracy of an unemployment office.

From

“There was only depression, and a hopeless enslavement to an inhuman, uncaring foreign bureaucracy.... No American who has gone to the KGB has not come to regret it.”

From

While in college, he worked as a senior reporter for the Daily Bruin where he covered national and state politics, protests and university bureaucracy.

From

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