officialdom

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of·fi·cial

(ə-fĭsh′əl)

adj.

1. Of or relating to an office or a post of authority: official duties.

2. Authorized by a proper authority; authoritative: official permission.

3. Holding office or serving in a public capacity: an official representative.

4. Characteristic of or befitting a person of authority; formal: an official banquet.

5. Authorized by or contained in the US Pharmacopoeia or National Formulary. Used of drugs.

1. One who holds an office or position, especially one who acts in a subordinate capacity for an institution such as a corporation or governmental agency.

2. Sports A referee or umpire.

[From Middle English, ecclesiastical officer, from Old French, from Latin officiālis, an attendant of an office, from officium, duty, service; see office.]

of·fi′cial·dom n.

of·fi′cial·ly adv.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

officialdom

(əˈfɪʃəldəm)

1. the outlook or behaviour of officials, esp those rigidly adhering to regulations; bureaucracy

2. officials or bureaucrats collectively

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

of•fi•cial•dom

(əˈfɪʃ əl dəm)

n.

the domain or class of officials.

officialdom

1. the realm or position of officials.
2. excessively close adherence to bureaucratie procedure.

officialdom

[əˈfɪʃəldəm] N (pej) → burocracia f

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

officialdom

[əˈfɪʃ^əldəm] n → bureaucratie f

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

officialdom

n (pej) → Bürokratie f, → Beamtentum nt

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

officialdom

[əˈfɪʃ/əldəm] n (pej) → burocrazia

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

References in classic literature ?

The atmosphere of officialdom would kill anything that breathes the air of human endeavour, would extinguish hope and fear alike in the supremacy of paper and ink.

All lightness of spirit and body having departed from me at the touch of officialdom, I looked at the scribe without animation and asked in my turn wearily:

View in context

A kind of wooden shutter of officialdom came down from Japp's expressive countenance.

View in context

'The way I know the President, I'll venture a guess that he will revamp the whole officialdom,' Sotto told reporters at the Senate.

'He will not leave anyone behind': Sotto thinks Duterte may revamp BuCor

Otumfuo's Chief Farmer, Nana Ampofo Kyei Baffour, who is also the Asemhene in Kumasi, has raised grave concern that should bother the citizenry and officialdom alike.

Is the Food and Drugs Authority listening?

However, the Rang Shah police has retained the aircraft, presumably to prevent future offences, such as illegal flight or misuse of public roads (not to forget unlicensed flying and plying an unregistered vehicle).Muhammad Fayaz has the sort of spirit that officialdom wants to crush, but which is needed in the modern age.

The takeoff non-starter

There are a number of different components of the circular debt, and the power division officialdom is becoming quite adept at presenting the numbers in a way to downplay the problem.

Rising circular debt

After replacing South Korean Lee Tae-hoon in March last year, Vitorino lasted eight months dogged by poor results, heavy defeats and criticism from both fans and officialdom over his player choices, strategy and tactics.

Crown name former Cambodia national head coach as new coach

Does this not prove inconclusively that our politicians and officialdom are corrupt and selfish to the core?

Corruption and mismanagement

OKARA -- Officialdom including a Punjab Minister and the Lahore High Court Bar Association president stressed a need of rule of law in the country.

MPs, legal wizard stress civility, rule of law in country

IT'S outrageous an elderly woman granted legal rights to live indefinitely in the UK is stuck in Jamaica, banned by callous officialdom from returning to her home and family.

Get Gretel back, now; VOICE OF THE

The institutions created were meant to be people-friendly and largely suspicious of officialdom.