politburo

See also: Politbüro

English

WOTD – 30 December 2020

Etymology

Borrowed from Russian Политбюро́ (Politbjuró, politburo of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union), a contraction of полити́ческое бюро́ (politíčeskoje bjuró, political bureau).[1]

Pronunciation

  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈpɒlɪtˌbjʊəɹəʊ/, /-ˌbjɔː-/
  • Audio (Received Pronunciation):(file)
  • (General American) IPA(key): /ˈpɑlətˌbjʊɹoʊ/, /ˈpoʊ-/
  • Hyphenation: po‧lit‧bu‧ro

Noun

politburo (plural politburos)

  1. (communism, Marxism) The governing council and chief policymaking body of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and other Marxist-Leninist political systems.
    Synonym: Political Bureau
  2. (by extension, politics, sometimes derogatory) A 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.
    • 2025 May 21, Ezra Klein, quoting Jake Tapper, “How Groupthink Protected Biden and Re-elected Trump”, in The New York Times[1], →ISSN:
      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.

Alternative forms

Translations

See also

References

  1. ^ Politburo, n.”, in OED Online , Oxford: Oxford University Press, December 2006; politburo, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Further reading

Portuguese

Pronunciation

  • (Portugal) IPA(key): /pɔ.liˈtbu.ɾu/ [pɔ.liˈtβu.ɾu]

Noun

politburo m (plural politburos)

  1. politburo (governing council of the Soviet Union)