bureaucratese
Red tape language
Bureaucratese is the jargon-laden, convoluted language typical of government agencies and large institutions.
It favors passive constructions, abstract nouns, and needless complexity: The implementation of the new guidelines will be effectuated pursuant to the established timeline.
The word is always pejorative—nobody aspires to write in bureaucratese.
Specialized professional vocabulary
- officialesePompous administrative writing
- legaleseAttorneys' technical jargon
- gobbledygookPretentious unintelligible language
- boilerplateStandardized reusable text
verbiage · circumlocution · doublespeak · obfuscation · verbosity · terminology · phraseology · nomenclature
Deliberate impeding of progress
- inefficiencySuboptimal use of resources
- paperworkAdministrative written tasks
- rubber-stampingApproving without genuine examination
- runaroundEvasive, delaying response
stonewalling · delay · confusion · inaccessibility · opacity · exclusion · gatekeeping · alienation
Excessively complex or twisted
- impersonalLacking warmth or individuality
- opaqueImpassable to light
- turgidSwollen or pompous
- stiltedUnnaturally formal in expression
pedantic · pompous · long-winded · indirect · nominalization · hedging · qualifying · vague
Formal internal correspondence
- directiveFormal command or instruction
- circularForming a closed curve
- requisitionFormal order for supplies
- addendumSupplementary text at end
appendix · annex · waiver · attestation · affidavit · dossier · communique · briefing
jargon
Specialized professional vocabulary
- officialesePompous administrative writing
- legaleseAttorneys' technical jargon
- gobbledygookPretentious unintelligible language
boilerplate · verbiage · circumlocution · doublespeak · obfuscation · verbosity · terminology · phraseology · nomenclature · lexicon
obstructionism
Deliberate impeding of progress
- inefficiencySuboptimal use of resources
- paperworkAdministrative written tasks
- rubber-stampingApproving without genuine examination
runaround · stonewalling · delay · confusion · inaccessibility · opacity · exclusion · gatekeeping · alienation · frustration
convoluted
Excessively complex or twisted
- impersonalLacking warmth or individuality
- opaqueImpassable to light
- turgidSwollen or pompous
stilted · pedantic · pompous · long-winded · indirect · nominalization · hedging · qualifying · vague · abstract
memorandum
Formal internal correspondence
- directiveFormal command or instruction
- circularForming a closed curve
- requisitionFormal order for supplies
addendum · appendix · annex · waiver · attestation · affidavit · dossier · communique · briefing · whitepaper
- jargonjargon, lingo, legal jargon, slang, buzz words
- Officialesehereby, heretofore, hereunto, whereas, aforementioned
- blatherbabble, balderdash, baloney, blarney, blather
- evasionevasion, avoiding, avoids, evade, dodging
- gibberishgibberish, nonsense, babble, babbling, drivel
- simplificationsimplification, simplifying, simplify, condensing, simplified
bureaucrateseplain English
Unadorned, accessible wording
plain speech · plain language · accessible language · simple language · clear writing
bureaucratesevernacular
Everyday regional speech
colloquial speech · everyday language · common parlance · informal speech · natural language
bureaucratesecolloquial speech
Informal everyday language
informal language · conversational tone · casual speech · everyday speech · natural language
bureau, bureaucracy, bureaucrat, bureaucratic, bureaus, bureaucrats, bureaux, bureaucratically