noun
(1) An official of a bureaucracy
Usage notes
The term , while often used in a professional and respectful manner, is oftentimes disdained by those who work in organizations, especially governmental organizations. This is due to connotations of rigidity, indifference, and especially laziness that the term can sometimes connote (the latter especially reflected in the oft-repeated derisive term ). As a result, many workers in organizations, especially governmental organizations, prefer terms such as , , , , etc.