Words / B1

BY-oorr-uh-krat/ˈbjʊərəkræt/

A bureaucrat is an official in a large organisation, often with a critical flavour (slow, rigid). Bureaucracy is the system (already in the dictionary); civil servant is more neutral in the UK. Residents blamed a bureaucrat, not the statute.

Meaning

An official who works in a large organisation, often seen as slow or rigid.

Examples

• “Residents blamed a bureaucrat, not the statute, for the delay.”
• “Call a planning officer a bureaucrat only if you mean the critical sense.”

Good to know

a bureaucrat (often critical). Neutral: a civil servant / an official. System: bureaucracy. Local news. Countable.

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