What does bureaucratic mean?
Word: Bureaucratic
Part of Speech: Adjective
Meaning: Bureaucratic means involving too many official rules and forms, which makes things slow.
How do you spell bureaucratic?
Syllables: bu - reau - crat - ic
Tricky part: The eau in the second part comes from French and sounds like a plain o, so pupils write burocratic or scramble the vowels into beaurocratic.
Watch out for: burocratic, beaurocratic, bureacratic
Memory tip: Eau is the French word for water: three vowels, in that order, for one small sound.
Bureaucratic in a sentence
Example 1: A bureaucratic mix-up kept our passports stuck in the office for a month.
Example 2: The bureaucratic steps for hiring the town hall took longer than planning the show.
Example 3: Many small shopkeepers find the tax system too bureaucratic.
Fun Fact
The word goes back to the 1700s, when a French economist poked fun at government by desks: he joined the French word for desk or office to a Greek word for rule.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Cookie
One letter in this word is not needed. Find it:
burreaucratic
a) e
b) u
c) c
d) r
Show answer
d) r. Only one r comes after the opening bu.
Mingle-Mangle
Unjumble the letters to find the word that fits the sentence:
The new bus pass took six weeks because of one atrbauuecric rule after another.
a) autocratic
b) democratic
c) bureaucratic
d) aristocratic
Show answer
c) bureaucratic. The b is the clue: no other option has one.
Word Connection
Choose the antonym of the word bureaucratic as used in the sentence:
Renewing the club's licence proved a slow, bureaucratic business with six separate forms.
a) tedious
b) straightforward
c) formal
d) complicated
Show answer
b) straightforward. A straightforward task has no fuss or extra steps; the other three do not oppose the word in the sentence.
Spell-o-Spell
Three of these words are spelt correctly. Choose the meaning of the one that is not.
1. parliament 2. bureaucratic 3. goverment 4. official
a) the body that makes a country's laws
b) weighed down by too many rules and forms
c) the group of people who run a country
d) approved by people in authority
Show answer
c) the group of people who run a country. Government keeps the n of govern.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Which of these is the most bureaucratic way to borrow a library book?
a) Take the book and leave a note on the desk.
b) Ask your friend to pass the book to you.
c) Fill in five forms and wait for three signatures.
d) Show your card and carry the book away.
Show answer
c) Fill in five forms and wait for three signatures.
2. Whose job is most likely to involve bureaucratic procedures?
a) a mountain guide
b) a street musician
c) a village potter
d) a clerk in a passport office
Show answer
d) a clerk in a passport office
