politburo

po·lit·bu·ro
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UK/ˈpɒlɪtˌbjʊəɹəʊ/UK/-ˌbjɔː-/US/ˈpɑlətˌbjʊɹoʊ/US/ˈpoʊ-/

noun

The governing council and chief policymaking body of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and other Marxist-Leninist political systems.

Similar
Political Bureau
OriginRussian Политбюро́ →
Less commonScrabble 13
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Meanings

politburo1

nounpolitburo (plural politburos)

plural politburos · alternative Politburo · alternative politbureau · alternative Politbureau

  1. communismThe governing council and chief policymaking body of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and other Marxist-Leninist political systems.

    Synonyms: Political Bureau

  2. broadlyderogatorysometimesgovernmentA senior governing or policymaking body in a political or other organization, generally consisting of members who are either appointed by the party in control of the organization, or who attain membership through their personal political affiliations; an inner circle.

    They were the people who surrounded Biden who were the true believers: Ricchetti, Donilon, etc. The Politburo would argue that the decisions were always fine and sound and never problematic.

    2025 May 21, Ezra Klein, quoting Jake Tapper, “How Groupthink Protected Biden and Re-elected Trump”, in The New York Times, →ISSN

Politburo2

nounPolitburo (plural Politburos)

plural Politburos

  1. Alternative letter-case form of politburo.
proper noun
  1. Any of various politburos, especially that of the Soviet Union or that of the People's Republic of China.
  2. metonymicallyThe senior leadership of the Soviet Union, or that of the People's Republic of China.

Synonyms & antonyms

nounThe governing council and chief policymaking body of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and other Marxist-Leninist political systems.

Similar
Political Bureau

Origin

  1. RussianПолитбюро́“politburo of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union”
  2. Englishpolitburo

Borrowed from Russian Политбюро́ (Politbjuró, “politburo of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union”), a contraction of полити́ческое бюро́ (politíčeskoje bjuró, “political bureau”).

More words from Russian

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Arabic مَكْتَب سِيَاسِيّ
  • مَكْتَب سِيَاسِيّ (maktab siyāsiyy)governing council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
Bulgarian политбюро́
  • политбюро́ (politbjuró)governing council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
Catalan politburó
  • politburógoverning council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
Chinese Cantonese 政治局
  • 政治局governing council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
Chinese Mandarin 政治局, 政治局
  • 政治局 (zhèngzhìjú)governing council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
  • 政治局 (zhèngzhìjú)senior governing or policymaking body in a political or other organization
Czech politbyro
  • politbyrogoverning council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
Danish politbureau
  • politbureaugoverning council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
Dutch politbureau
  • politbureaugoverning council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
Estonian poliitbüroo
  • poliitbüroogoverning council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
Finnish politbyroo, politbyroo
  • politbyroogoverning council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
  • politbyroosenior governing or policymaking body in a political or other organization
French bureau politique, politburo
  • bureau politiquegoverning council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
  • politburogoverning council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
German Politbüro
  • Politbürogoverning council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
Greek πολιτικό γραφείο, πολίτμπιρο
  • πολιτικό γραφείο (politikó grafeío)governing council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
  • πολίτμπιρο (polítmpiro)governing council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
Hebrew פוליטביורו
  • פוליטביורו (politbyuró)governing council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
Hindi पोलितब्यूरो
  • पोलितब्यूरो (politabyūro)governing council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
Hungarian politbüro, politikai iroda
  • politbürogoverning council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
  • politikai irodagoverning council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
Indonesian politbiro, biro politik
  • politbirogoverning council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
  • biro politikgoverning council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
  • politbirosenior governing or policymaking body in a political or other organization
  • biro politiksenior governing or policymaking body in a political or other organization
Italian ufficio politico, politbüro
  • ufficio politicogoverning council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
  • politbürogoverning council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
Japanese 政治局, ポリトビュロ
  • 政治局 (seijikyoku)governing council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
  • ポリトビュロ (poritobyuro)governing council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
Korean 정치국, 폴리트뷰로
  • 정치국 (jeongchiguk)governing council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
  • 폴리트뷰로 (polliteubyuro)governing council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
Latvian politbirojs
  • politbirojsgoverning council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
Lithuanian politbiuras
  • politbiurasgoverning council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
Malay politburo
  • politburogoverning council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
Norwegian Bokmål politbyrå, politbyrå
  • politbyrågoverning council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
  • politbyråsenior governing or policymaking body in a political or other organization
Polish biuro polityczne, politbiuro
  • biuro politycznegoverning council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
  • politbiurogoverning council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
  • biuro politycznesenior governing or policymaking body in a political or other organization
  • politbiurosenior governing or policymaking body in a political or other organization
Portuguese politburo
  • politburogoverning council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
Romanian birou politic
  • birou politicgoverning council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
Russian Политбюро́, политбюро́
  • Политбюро́ (Politbjuró)governing council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
  • политбюро́ (politbjuró)governing council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
Slovak politbyro
  • politbyrogoverning council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
Spanish politburó, buró político
  • politburógoverning council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
  • buró políticogoverning council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
Swedish politbyrå
  • politbyrågoverning council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
Turkish politbüro
  • politbürogoverning council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
Ukrainian Політбюро́, політбюро́
  • Політбюро́ (Politbjuró)governing council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
  • політбюро́ (politbjuró)governing council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
Urdu پولِٹ بْیُورو
  • پولِٹ بْیُورو (poliṭ byūro)governing council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
Vietnamese bộ chính trị
  • bộ chính trịgoverning council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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