bureaucratitis

B3U1R1E1A1U1C3R1A1T1I1T1I1S1

noun

Excessive bureaucracy; red tape.

OriginEnglish bureaucrat ← French bureaucrate ← Ancient Greek κρᾰ́τος (krắtos) →
Scrabble 18
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Meanings

nounbureaucratitis (uncountable)
  1. uncountableExcessive bureaucracy; red tape.

    I don't like the ergophilia, bureaucratitis, technomania and war fever that I'm surrounded by, yet these things don't actually get labelled as sicknesses.

    2004, Colin Feltham, Problems Are Us: Or Is It Just Me?, →ISBN, page 234

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*péh₂wr̥
  2. Proto-Hellenic*pāwər
  3. Ancient Greekπῦρ (pûr)
  4. Ancient Greekπῠρρός (pŭrrhós)
  5. Latinburrus
  6. Latinburra
  7. Old French*bure
  8. Old Frenchburel
  9. Frenchbureau
  10. Proto-Indo-European*kret-
  11. Ancient Greekκρᾰ́τος (krắtos)
  12. Frenchbureaucratie
  13. Frenchbureaucrate
  14. Englishbureaucrat
  15. Englishbureaucratitis

From bureaucrat + -itis.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

bureaucratitis. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bureaucratitis

MLA

“bureaucratitis.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bureaucratitis. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “bureaucratitis,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bureaucratitis.

Source: bureaucratitis on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.