Bureaucrats are officials who work in a large administrative system. You can refer to officials as bureaucrats especially if you disapprove of them because they seem to follow rules and procedures too strictly.
[disapproval]
The economy is still controlled by bureaucrats.
Synonyms: official, minister, officer, administrator More Synonyms of bureaucrat
bureaucrat in British English
(ˈbjʊərəˌkræt)
noun
1.
an official in a bureaucracy
2.
an official who adheres to bureaucracy, esp rigidly
Derived forms
bureaucratism (bjʊəˈrɒkrəˌtɪzəm)
noun
bureaucrat in American English
(ˈbjʊrəˌkræt)
noun
an official in a bureaucracy, esp. one who follows a routine in a mechanical, unimaginative way, insisting on proper forms, petty rules, etc.
Derived forms
bureaucratic (ˌbureauˈcratic)
adjective
bureaucratically (ˌbureauˈcratically)
adverb
Examples of 'bureaucrat' in a sentence
bureaucrat
Who were the bureaucrats and the politicians?
Shubert, Adrian A Social History of Modern Spain (1991)
We would have had pious speeches about the folly of bureaucrats running businesses.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
That privilege was held by a hierarchy of faceless bureaucrats who wielded more power than ministers.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
It is another example of bureaucrats who seem to need a stiff drink themselves.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
Yet the bureaucrats are still pushing ahead with their plans to impose this new tax on us.
The Sun (2007)
We need protection not from seasonal floods but from bureaucrats and politicians.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
The problem is the system is run by bureaucrats and not practical people.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
She is far more deserving than faceless bureaucrats.
The Sun (2009)
It is all well for the bureaucrats and politicians sitting in their offices to hold forth.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
He warned his bureaucrats to work as a team, and avoid inflexible planning.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
This is appeasement to corrupt, unelected foreign bureaucrats who feel no love for our nation.
The Sun (2016)
To begin with, land was held back from construction by local bureaucrats.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
There are two big things holding the programme back: money and hostile local bureaucrats.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
Who chose this petty bureaucrat to run a totalitarian regime with control over laws governing 500million people?
The Sun (2014)
And we couldn't have stopped faceless bankers and bureaucrats meddling in our fight against inflation.
The Sun (2006)
His long, thin features and permanent scowl were well suited to the role of humourless bureaucrat or petty official.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
He is an unelected bureaucrat.
The Sun (2016)
Now, bureaucrats are working against the clock to process 12,000 applications as the harvest begins.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
Further down the bureaucratic hierarchy, the classic rational image of the bureaucrat seems to prevail, but in the boundary layer something paradoxical can happen.
Low, Nicholas Politics, Planning and the State (1990)
In other languages
bureaucrat
British English: bureaucrat NOUN
Bureaucrats are officials who work in a large administrative system.
The economy is still controlled by bureaucrats.
American English: bureaucrat
Brazilian Portuguese: burocrata
Chinese: 官僚
European Spanish: burócrata
French: bureaucrate
German: Bürokrat
Italian: burocrate
Japanese: 官僚
Korean: 관료
European Portuguese: burocrata
Latin American Spanish: burócrata
Chinese translation of 'bureaucrat'
bureaucrat
(ˈbjuərəkræt) (usually pej)
n(c)
官僚 (guānliáo)
(noun)
Definition
an official in a bureaucracy
The economy is still controlled by bureaucrats.
Synonyms
official
a senior UN official
minister
He concluded a deal with the Danish minister in Washington.
officer
a local education authority officer
administrator
He worked for 34 years as an administrator with the company.
civil servant
public servant
functionary
a properly elected state functionary
apparatchik
office-holder
mandarin
Additional synonyms
in the sense of administrator
Definition
a person who administers an organization or estate
He worked for 34 years as an administrator with the company.
Synonyms
manager,
head,
official,
director,
officer,
executive,
minister,
boss (informal),
agent,
governor,
controller,
supervisor,
bureaucrat,
superintendent,
gaffer (informal, British),
organizer,
mandarin,
functionary,
overseer
in the sense of functionary
Definition
a person acting in an official capacity, such as for a government
a properly elected state functionary
Synonyms
officer,
official,
dignitary,
office holder,
office bearer,
employee
in the sense of minister
Definition
a diplomat with a lower rank than an ambassador
He concluded a deal with the Danish minister in Washington.