Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Date: 1800-1900
Language: French
Origin: bureaucracie, from bureau ( BUREAU) + -cracie '-cracy'

bureaucracy

 noun
     
Related topics: Government
bu‧reauc‧ra‧cy plural bureaucracies
1 [uncountable]PG a complicated official system which is annoying or confusing because it has a lot of rules, processes etc [↪ red tape]:
the reduction of unnecessary bureaucracy
2 [uncountable and countable]PG the officials who are employed rather than elected to do the work of a government, business etc
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
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