Dictionary
Thesaurus
Encyclopedia
Translator
Web
Related Searches
Synonyms
Nearby Words

bureaucracy

 - 4 dictionary results

bu⋅reauc⋅ra⋅cy

  [byoo-rok-ruh-see]
Use bureaucracy in a Sentence
–noun, plural -cies.
1. government by many bureaus, administrators, and petty officials.
2. the body of officials and administrators, esp. 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.
Origin:
1810–20; bureau + -cracy, modeled on F bureaucratie
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To bureaucracy
bu·reauc·ra·cy   (byŏŏ-rŏk'rə-sē)   
n.   pl. bu·reauc·ra·cies

    1. Administration of a government chiefly through bureaus or departments staffed with nonelected officials.

    2. The departments and their officials as a group: promised to reorganize the federal bureaucracy.

    3. Management or administration marked by hierarchical authority among numerous offices and by fixed procedures: The new department head did not know much about bureaucracy.

    4. The administrative structure of a large or complex organization: a midlevel manager in a corporate bureaucracy.

    1. Management or administration marked by hierarchical authority among numerous offices and by fixed procedures: The new department head did not know much about bureaucracy.

    2. The administrative structure of a large or complex organization: a midlevel manager in a corporate bureaucracy.

  3. An administrative system in which the need or inclination to follow rigid or complex procedures impedes effective action: innovative ideas that get bogged down in red tape and bureaucracy.


[French bureaucratie : bureau, office; see bureau + -cratie, rule (from Old French; see -cracy).]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Cultural Dictionary

bureaucracy [(byoo-rok-ruh-see)]

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.)

Note: Today, the term bureaucracy suggests a lack of initiative, excessive adherence to rules and routine, red tape, inefficiency, or, even more serious, an impersonal force dominating the lives of individuals. (See Big Brother is watching you.)
The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Word Origin & History

bureaucracy 
1818, from Fr. bureaucratie, from bureau "office," lit. "desk" (see bureau) + Gk. suffix -kratia denoting "power of;" coined by Fr. economist Jean Claude Marie Vincent de Gournay (1712-59). Bureaucrat is from 1842; bureaucratic is from 1836.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
Search another word or see bureaucracy on Thesaurus | Reference
FacebookTwitterFollow us:
Partner Sites:
Ask AnswersEviteExpediaHotelsHotwireLife123LiveDailyMy Way