"faceless bureaucrat" meaning in All languages combined

See faceless bureaucrat on Wiktionary

Noun [English]

Audio: en-au-faceless bureaucrat.ogg Forms: faceless bureaucrats [plural]
Head templates: {{en-noun}} faceless bureaucrat (plural faceless bureaucrats)
  1. (idiomatic, usually derogatory) A stereotypical anonymous, interchangeable and unaccountable government official. Tags: derogatory, idiomatic, usually Related terms: drone, cog in the machine
    Sense id: en-faceless_bureaucrat-en-noun-JTRjXhIh Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries

Inflected forms

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      "form": "faceless bureaucrats",
      "tags": [
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      "expansion": "faceless bureaucrat (plural faceless bureaucrats)",
      "name": "en-noun"
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  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
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      "categories": [
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          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
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          "source": "w"
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          "source": "w"
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        {
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          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
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      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1983, Alan Rosenberg, “The Philosophical Implications of the Holocaust”, in Perspectives on the Holocaust, →ISBN:",
          "text": "The desk-killer operates from within a network of other faceless functionaries radiating in every direction and in which the sense of responsibility could be passed along from faceless bureaucrat to faceless bureaucrat with the greatest of ease, as if it is nothing but an item passed along a conveyor belt on a mass-production line.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1992, Richard Batley, The Political Executive, →ISBN, page 29:",
          "text": "If you want a parliamentary democracy with responsible and accountable ministers, you have to complement the high-profile political role of a minister with that of a neutral, faceless bureaucrat, confined to the role of an adviser.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1996, Brain J. Cook, Bureaucracy and Self-Government, →ISBN, page 192:",
          "text": "The faceless bureaucrat, the rigidly rule-bound and unresponsive public servant, the mysterious labyrinth of corridors, the long customer service wait times—these are all part of the imagery of public bureaucracy deeply imbedded in American culture.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2011, Nick James, Cancer: A Very Short Introduction, →ISBN, page 96:",
          "text": "[...] when cancer therapy tends to hit the press is when access to a new therapy is denied someone, usually presented as a variant of the staple news story of 'patient refused life-saving drug by faceless bureaucrat'.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2014, Bruce Miroff, Raymond Seidelman, Todd Swanstrom, Tom De Luca, The Democratic Debate, →ISBN, page 327:",
          "text": "Probably the most powerful of the myths about the modern administrative state concerns the identity of the typical bureaucrat. The faceless bureaucrat of myth is inefficient and lazy on one hand, aggressive and hyperactive in meddling in people's lives on the other. But in truth bureaucrats are ordinary people.",
          "type": "quote"
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        "A stereotypical anonymous, interchangeable and unaccountable government official."
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        ],
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          "official",
          "official"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic, usually derogatory) A stereotypical anonymous, interchangeable and unaccountable government official."
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "word": "drone"
        },
        {
          "word": "cog in the machine"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "derogatory",
        "idiomatic",
        "usually"
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  "sounds": [
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      "audio": "en-au-faceless bureaucrat.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/2/22/En-au-faceless_bureaucrat.ogg/En-au-faceless_bureaucrat.ogg.mp3",
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  "word": "faceless bureaucrat"
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  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "drone"
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    {
      "word": "cog in the machine"
    }
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  "senses": [
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        "English derogatory terms",
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        "English idioms",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English nouns",
        "English terms with quotations",
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        "Pages with entries"
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      "examples": [
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          "ref": "1983, Alan Rosenberg, “The Philosophical Implications of the Holocaust”, in Perspectives on the Holocaust, →ISBN:",
          "text": "The desk-killer operates from within a network of other faceless functionaries radiating in every direction and in which the sense of responsibility could be passed along from faceless bureaucrat to faceless bureaucrat with the greatest of ease, as if it is nothing but an item passed along a conveyor belt on a mass-production line.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1992, Richard Batley, The Political Executive, →ISBN, page 29:",
          "text": "If you want a parliamentary democracy with responsible and accountable ministers, you have to complement the high-profile political role of a minister with that of a neutral, faceless bureaucrat, confined to the role of an adviser.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1996, Brain J. Cook, Bureaucracy and Self-Government, →ISBN, page 192:",
          "text": "The faceless bureaucrat, the rigidly rule-bound and unresponsive public servant, the mysterious labyrinth of corridors, the long customer service wait times—these are all part of the imagery of public bureaucracy deeply imbedded in American culture.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2011, Nick James, Cancer: A Very Short Introduction, →ISBN, page 96:",
          "text": "[...] when cancer therapy tends to hit the press is when access to a new therapy is denied someone, usually presented as a variant of the staple news story of 'patient refused life-saving drug by faceless bureaucrat'.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2014, Bruce Miroff, Raymond Seidelman, Todd Swanstrom, Tom De Luca, The Democratic Debate, →ISBN, page 327:",
          "text": "Probably the most powerful of the myths about the modern administrative state concerns the identity of the typical bureaucrat. The faceless bureaucrat of myth is inefficient and lazy on one hand, aggressive and hyperactive in meddling in people's lives on the other. But in truth bureaucrats are ordinary people.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A stereotypical anonymous, interchangeable and unaccountable government official."
      ],
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          "derogatory"
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        [
          "interchangeable",
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        ],
        [
          "unaccountable",
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        ],
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          "official"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic, usually derogatory) A stereotypical anonymous, interchangeable and unaccountable government official."
      ],
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        "derogatory",
        "idiomatic",
        "usually"
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  "word": "faceless bureaucrat"
}

Download raw JSONL data for faceless bureaucrat meaning in All languages combined (3.3kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable All languages combined dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-12-21 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-12-04 using wiktextract (d8cb2f3 and 4e554ae). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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