bureaucracy

4 definitions found

bureaucracy - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  Bureaucracy \Bu*reau"cra*cy\, n. [Bureau + Gr. ? to be strong,
     to govern, ? strength: cf. F. bureaucratie.]
     1. A system of carrying on the business of government by
        means of departments or bureaus, each under the control of
        a chief, in contradiction to a system in which the
        officers of government have an associated authority and
        responsibility; also, government conducted on this system.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. Government officials, collectively; -- used especially of
        nonelected government officials.
        [1913 Webster +PJC]

bureaucracy - WordNet (r) 2.1 (2005) :

  bureaucracy
      n 1: nonelective government officials [syn: bureaucracy,
           bureaucratism]
      2: a government that is administered primarily by bureaus that
         are staffed with nonelective officials
      3: any organization in which action is obstructed by insistence
         on unnecessary procedures and red tape

bureaucracy - Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856) :

  BUREAUCRACY. The abuse of official influence in the affairs of government; 
  corruption. This word has lately been adopted to signify that those persons 
  who are employed in bureaus abuse their authority by intrigue to promote 
  their own benefit, or that of friends, rather than the public good. The word 
  is derived from the French. 
  
  

bureaucracy - Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 :

  48 Moby Thesaurus words for "bureaucracy":
     administration, authorities, beadledom, beat, beaten path,
     bumbledom, bureaucratism, chinoiserie, daily grind, directorate,
     government, grind, groove, hierarchy, higher echelons, higher-ups,
     jog trot, management, ministry, official jargon, officialdom,
     officialism, prelacy, red tape, red-tapeism, red-tapery, round,
     routine, ruling class, ruling classes, run, rut, squirrel cage,
     the Establishment, the administration, the authorities,
     the ingroup, the interests, the people upstairs, the power elite,
     the power structure, the top, them, they, top brass, track,
     treadmill, well-worn groove