politician
Other forms: politicians
A politician is a person who campaigns for or holds a position in government. A politician may start a career by running for a local office, like mayor, but could eventually serve nationally — in Congress or even as President.
Politician can mean someone who identifies with a major political party. Sometimes voters prefer to elect candidates who aren't career politicians, with more allegiance to the party they represent than the people they serve. A general frustration with politicians has resulted in the use of politician to refer to people who act to gain an advantage for themselves. The office politician may lobby the boss to get preferential treatment, for example.
Definitions of politician
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a leader engaged in civil administration
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types:
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governor
the head of a state government
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legislator
someone who makes or enacts laws
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city manager, mayor
the head of a city government
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ex-mayor
a former mayor
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alcalde
a mayor or chief magistrate of a Spanish town
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backbencher
a member of the House of Commons who is not a party leader
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bey
the governor of a district or province in the Ottoman Empire
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burgomaster
a mayor of a municipality in Germany or Holland or Flanders or Austria
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congressman, congresswoman, representative
a member of the United States House of Representatives
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crossbencher
a member of the House of Commons who does not vote regularly with either the government or the Opposition
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deputy
a member of the lower chamber of a legislative assembly (such as in France)
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eparch
the governor or prefect of an eparchy in ancient Greece
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filibuster, filibusterer
a legislator who gives long speeches in an effort to delay or obstruct legislation that he (or she) opposes
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floor leader
the legislator who organizes his party's strategy
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frontbencher
a member of the House of Commons who is a minister in the government or who holds an official position in an opposition party
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governor general
a governor of high rank
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majority leader
leader of the majority party in a legislature
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mayoress
a woman mayor
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military governor
the head of a government established by the military (as in a defeated country)
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minority leader
leader of the minority party in a legislature
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nabob, nawab
a governor in India during the Mogul empire
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Member of Parliament, Parliamentarian
an elected member of the British Parliament: a member of the House of Commons
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proconsul
a provincial governor of consular rank in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire
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satrap
a governor of a province in ancient Persia
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senator
a member of a senate
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vicereine, viceroy
governor of a country or province who rules as the representative of his or her king or sovereign
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party whip, whip
a legislator appointed by the party to enforce discipline
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burgess
a representative in the lower house of the colonial legislature in Maryland or Virginia
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type of:
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leader
a person who rules or guides or inspires others
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a person active in party politics
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synonyms:
pol, political leader, politico
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examples:
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Nancy Witcher Astor
British politician (born in the United States) who was the first woman to sit in the British House of Commons (1879-1964)
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Alben William Barkley
United States politician and lawyer; vice president of the United States (1877-1956)
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William Maxwell Aitken
British newspaper publisher and politician (born in Canada); confidant of Winston Churchill (1879-1964)
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Thomas Bradley
United States politician who was elected the first black mayor of Los Angeles (1917-1998)
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Boy Orator of the Platte
United States lawyer and politician who advocated free silver and prosecuted John Scopes (1925) for teaching evolution in a Tennessee high school (1860-1925)
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Aaron Burr
United States politician who served as vice president under Jefferson; he mortally wounded his political rival Alexander Hamilton in a duel and fled south (1756-1836)
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Salmon Portland Chase
United States politician and jurist who served as chief justice of the United States Supreme Court (1808-1873)
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Charles Joseph Clark
Canadian politician who served as prime minister (1939-)
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the Great Compromiser
United States politician responsible for the Missouri Compromise between free and slave states (1777-1852)
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DeWitt Clinton
United States politician who as governor of New York supported the project to build the Erie Canal (1769-1828)
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David Crockett
United States frontiersman and Tennessee politician who died at the siege of the Alamo (1786-1836)
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Stephen Arnold Douglas
United States politician who proposed that individual territories be allowed to decide whether they would have slavery; he engaged in a famous series of debates with Abraham Lincoln (1813-1861)
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Samuel Houston
United States politician and military leader who fought to gain independence for Texas from Mexico and to make it a part of the United States (1793-1863)
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Jesse Louis Jackson
United States civil rights leader who led a national campaign against racial discrimination and ran for presidential nomination (born in 1941)
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Glenda Jackson
English film actress who later became a member of British Parliament (born in 1936)
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Andre Maginot
French politician who proposed the Maginot Line (1877-1932)
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Joseph Raymond McCarthy
United States politician who unscrupulously accused many citizens of being Communists (1908-1957)
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Daniel Patrick Moynihan
United States politician and educator (1927-2003)
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Mullah Mohammed Omar
reclusive Afghanistani politician and leader of the Taliban who imposed a strict interpretation of shariah law on Afghanistan (born in 1960)
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Sir Robert Peel
British politician (1788-1850)
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Jeannette Rankin
leader in the women's suffrage movement in Montana; the first woman to serve in the United States House of Representatives (1880-1973)
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Nellie Tayloe Ross
a politician in Wyoming who was the first woman governor in the United States (1876-1977)
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William Henry Seward
United States politician who as Secretary of State in 1867 arranged for the purchase of Alaska from Russia (known at the time as Seward's Folly) (1801-1872)
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Daniel Webster
United States politician and orator (1782-1817)
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types:
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campaigner, candidate, nominee
a politician who is running for public office
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Communist
a member of the communist party
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demagog, demagogue, rabble-rouser
a political leader who seeks support by appealing to popular passions and prejudices
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Democrat
a member of the Democratic Party
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Federalist
a member of a former political party in the United States that favored a strong centralized federal government
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Labourite
a member of the British Labour Party
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hack, machine politician, political hack, ward-heeler
a politician who belongs to a small clique that controls a political party for private rather than public ends
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Mugwump
someone who bolted from the Republican Party during the U.S. presidential election of 1884
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noncandidate
someone who has announced they are not a candidate; especially a politician who has announced that he or she is not a candidate for some political office
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boss, party boss, political boss
a leader in a political party who controls votes and dictates appointments
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party liner, party man
a member of a political party who follows strictly the party line
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Republican
a member of the Republican Party
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sachem
a political leader (especially of Tammany Hall)
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socialist
a political advocate of socialism
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standard-bearer
an outstanding leader of a political movement
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national leader, solon, statesman
a man who is a respected leader in national or international affairs
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technocrat
an advocate of technocracy
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Whig
a member of the Whig Party that existed in the United States before the American Civil War
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Grigori Aleksandrovich Potemkin, Grigori Potemkin, Grigori Potyokin, Potemkin, Potyokin
a Russian officer and politician who was a favorite of Catherine II and in 1762 helped her to seize power; when she visited the Crimea in 1787 he gave the order for sham villages to be built (1739-1791)
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commie, communist
a socialist who advocates communism
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dark horse
a political candidate who is not well known but could win unexpectedly
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elder statesman
an elderly statesman whose advice is sought be government leaders
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Fabian
a member of the Fabian Society in Britain
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favorite son
a United States politician favored mainly in his or her home state
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Founding Father
a member of the Constitutional Convention that drafted the United States Constitution in 1787
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internationalist
a member of a socialist or communist international
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Menshevik
a Russian member of the liberal minority group that advocated gradual reform and opposed the Bolsheviks before and during the Russian Revolution
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running mate
a nominee for the lesser of two closely related political offices
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collectivist, left-winger, leftist
a person who belongs to the political left
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spoiler
a candidate with no chance of winning but who may draw enough votes to prevent one of the leading candidates from winning
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stalking-horse
a candidate put forward to divide the Opposition or to mask the true candidate
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stateswoman
a woman statesman
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write-in, write-in candidate
a candidate for public office whose name does not appear on the ballot and so must be written on the ballot by the voters
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type of:
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leader
a person who rules or guides or inspires others
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a schemer who tries to gain advantage in an organization in sly or underhanded ways
Pronunciation
US
/ˈpɑləˌtɪʃən/
UK
/pɒlɪˈtɪʃən/
DISCLAIMER: These example sentences appear in various news sources and books to reflect the usage of the word ‘politician'.
Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Vocabulary.com or its editors.
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