bureaucracy Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun nonelective government officials
    bureaucratism.
  2. noun a government that is administered primarily by bureaus that are staffed with nonelective officials
  3. noun any organization in which action is obstructed by insistence on unnecessary procedures and red tape

WordNet

Bu*reau"cra*cy noun
Etymology
Bureau + Gr. to be strong, to govern, strength: cf. F. bureaucratie.
Definitions
  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.
  2. Government officials, collectively.

Webster 1913