/ bjʊəˈrɒkrəsi; NAmE bjʊˈrɑːk-/ noun ( pl. -ies )
1.
[ U ] (often disapproving ) the system of official rules and ways of doing things that a government or an organization has, especially when these seem to be too complicated :
unnecessary / excessive bureaucracy
2.
[ U , C ] a system of government in which there are a large number of state officials who are not elected; a country with such a system :
the power of the state bureaucracy
living in a modern bureaucracy
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WORD ORIGIN
early 19th cent.: from French bureaucratie , from bureau , originally baize (used to cover writing desks), from Old French burel , probably from bure dark brown, based on Greek purros red.