Definition of bureaucratnext
as in clerk
a worker in a government agency the bureaucrats at the town hall seem to think that we need a building permit to build a tree house

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of bureaucrat At the same time, some critics worried that the Obama-era guidance had gone too far, tasking college bureaucrats with investigating criminal allegations and diluting due process. — Lauren Mascarenhas, CNN Money, 30 Sep. 2026 The prosecutor was aware that some people viewed career officials who had remained at the Justice Department as comparable to the bureaucrats who had dutifully followed orders in Nazi Germany. — Eyal Press, New Yorker, 28 Sep. 2026 His father worked as a bureaucrat in Manhattan; his mother taught piano lessons from their living room. — Clara Molot, Vanity Fair, 24 Sep. 2026 The men are a Chaucerian cross section—a contractor, a bureaucrat, a writer, and a doctor—brought together on a cold night in a train station’s waiting room. — James Folta, Literary Hub, 23 Sep. 2026 See All Example Sentences for bureaucrat
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bureaucrat
Noun
  • An agent that can both draft and post a journal entry has the same segregation-of-duties problem as a clerk who can do both.
    — Jacqueline DeStefano-Tangorra, Forbes.com, 16 Oct. 2026
  • The South Carolina Supreme Court overturned his convictions earlier this year, ruling that a court clerk influenced jurors during his trial.
    — Jeffrey Collins, Los Angeles Times, 16 Oct. 2026
Noun
  • On Friday, the Justice Department followed up with a warning that state election officials who knowingly process ballots cast by noncitizen voters are at risk of investigation.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 20 Oct. 2026
  • The ongoing war in Iran has centered on nuclear issues, including enrichment—Iranian officials have resisted any peace-deal terms that restrict the country’s enrichment program.
    — Nick Bockelman, Scientific American, 20 Oct. 2026
Noun
  • Among them was Joseph Felix Badio, 63, a former Haitian government functionary who has emerged as a central figure, and Samir Handal.
    — Jacqueline Charles, Miami Herald, 28 Sep. 2026
  • This was no gangsta rap Nuremberg, but rather something closer to the trial of Adolf Eichmann — a case tried decades later in which the aging defendant wasn’t the actual killer but a banal middleman, a functionary and a lethal node of transport.
    — Jeff Weiss, HollywoodReporter, 1 Sep. 2026
Noun
  • The program could also be targeted rather than universal — triggered by sector-specific unemployment spikes, income level, or geography, so the money flows first to the workers AI disrupts most.
    — Sarah Cannon, Fortune, 18 Oct. 2026
  • At least six families said health workers visited only after a child had died from measles in their community.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 18 Oct. 2026
Noun
  • Such a promise needs to be written down, with a way for employees to challenge a broken commitment.
    — Christoph Trattner, Fortune, 14 Oct. 2026
  • In an interview with Inside Edition on Tuesday, store owner Adam Rubin said that his store has been review-bombed since Clarkson took to social media and named the store, and employees and surrounding businesses have been harassed.
    — Payton Turkeltaub, Variety, 14 Oct. 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Bureaucrat.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bureaucrat. Accessed 21 Oct. 2026.

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