name · noun · 6 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
Received-Pronunciation:/ˈpɒlɪtˌbjʊəɹəʊ/
Received-Pronunciation:/-ˌbjɔː-/
Received-Pronunciation:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
General-American:/ˈpɑlətˌbjʊɹoʊ/
General-American:/ˈpoʊ-/
CMU ARPABET:P AA1 L AH0 T B Y UH2 R OW0
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
name
Meaning 1
Any of various politburos, especially that of the Soviet Union or that of the People's Republic of China.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
name
Meaning 2
The senior leadership of the Soviet Union, or that of the People's Republic of China.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: metonymically
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
noun
Meaning 3
The governing council and chief policymaking body of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and other Marxist-Leninist political systems.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: Political Bureau
Antonyms: none provided
4
noun
Meaning 4
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.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: broadly, derogatory, sometimes
Topics: government, politics
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
5
noun
Meaning 5
Alternative letter-case form of politburo.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: alt-of
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
6
noun
Meaning 6
the chief executive and political committee of the Communist Party
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: committee, commission
History
Etymology
Borrowed from Russian Политбюро́ (Politbjuró, “politburo of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union”), a contraction of полити́ческое бюро́ (politíčeskoje bjuró, “political bureau”).
Across languages
Translations
80 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Albanian:
byro politike
— governing council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
Albanian:
zyrë politike
— governing council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
Albanian:
politbyro
— governing council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
Arabic:
مَكْتَب سِيَاسِيّ
(maktab siyāsiyy)
— governing council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
Armenian:
քաղբյուրո
(kʻaġbyuro)
— governing council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
Azerbaijani:
siyasi büro
— governing council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
Azerbaijani:
politbüro
— governing council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
Belarusian:
Палітбюро́
(Palitbjuró)
— governing council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
Belarusian:
палітбюро́
(palitbjuró)
— governing council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
Bulgarian:
политбюро́
(politbjuró)
— governing council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
Catalan:
politburó
— governing council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
Chinese Cantonese:
政治局
— governing council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
Chinese:
政治局
(chèng-tī-kio̍k)
— governing council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
Chinese Mandarin:
政治局
(zhèngzhìjú)
— governing council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
Czech:
politbyro
— governing council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
Danish:
politbureau
— governing council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
Dutch:
politbureau
— governing council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
Estonian:
poliitbüroo
— governing council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
Finnish:
politbyroo
— governing council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
French:
bureau politique
— governing council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
French:
politburo
— governing council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
Georgian:
პოლიტბიურო
(ṗoliṭbiuro)
— governing council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
German:
Politbüro
— governing council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
Greek:
πολιτικό γραφείο
(politikó grafeío)
— governing council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
Greek:
πολίτμπιρο
(polítmpiro)
— governing council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
Hebrew:
פוליטביורו
(politbyuró)
— governing council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
Hindi:
पोलितब्यूरो
(politabyūro)
— governing council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
Hungarian:
politbüro
— governing council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
Hungarian:
politikai iroda
— governing council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
Indonesian:
politbiro
— governing council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
Indonesian:
biro politik
— governing council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
Italian:
ufficio politico
— governing council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
Italian:
politbüro
— governing council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
Japanese:
政治局
(seijikyoku)
— governing council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
Japanese:
ポリトビュロ
(poritobyuro)
— governing council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
Kazakh:
саяси бюро
(saäsi büro)
— governing council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
Kazakh:
политбюро
(politbüro)
— governing council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
Korean:
정치국
(jeongchiguk)
— governing council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
Korean:
폴리트뷰로
(polliteubyuro)
— governing council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
Kyrgyz:
политбюро
(politbyuro)
— governing council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
Kyrgyz:
саясий бюро
(sayasiy byuro)
— governing council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
Latvian:
politbirojs
— governing council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
Lithuanian:
politbiuras
— governing council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
Macedonian:
политбиро́
(politbiró)
— governing council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
Malay:
politburo
— governing council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
Norwegian Bokmål:
politbyrå
— governing council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
Iranian Persian:
دَفْتَرِ سِیاسی
(daftar-e siyâsi)
— governing council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
Iranian Persian:
پولیتْبورو
(politburo)
— governing council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
Polish:
biuro polityczne
— governing council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
Polish:
politbiuro
— governing council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
Portuguese:
politburo
— governing council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
Romanian:
birou politic
— governing council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
Russian:
Политбюро́
(Politbjuró)
— governing council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
Russian:
политбюро́
(politbjuró)
— governing council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
Serbo-Croatian:
по̏литбиро̄
— governing council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
Serbo-Croatian:
pȍlitbirō
— governing council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
Slovak:
politbyro
— governing council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
Slovene:
politbiro
— governing council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
Spanish:
politburó
— governing council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
Spanish:
buró político
— governing council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
Swedish:
politbyrå
— governing council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
Tajik:
бюрои сиёсӣ
(byuro-yi siyosi)
— governing council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
Tajik:
политбюро
(politbyuro)
— governing council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
Tajik:
дафтари сиёсӣ
(daftar-i siyosi)
— governing council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
Turkish:
politbüro
— governing council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
Turkmen:
syýasy býuro
— governing council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
Turkmen:
politbýuro
— governing council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
Ukrainian:
Політбюро́
(Politbjuró)
— governing council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
Ukrainian:
політбюро́
(politbjuró)
— governing council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
Urdu:
پولِٹ بْیُورو
(poliṭ byūro)
— governing council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
Uzbek:
politbyuro
— governing council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
Uzbek:
siyosiy byuro
— governing council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
Vietnamese:
bộ chính trị
— governing council and chief policymaking body of a Marxist-Leninist political system
Chinese Mandarin:
政治局
(zhèngzhìjú)
— senior governing or policymaking body in a political or other organization
Finnish:
politbyroo
— senior governing or policymaking body in a political or other organization
Indonesian:
politbiro
— senior governing or policymaking body in a political or other organization
Indonesian:
biro politik
— senior governing or policymaking body in a political or other organization
Norwegian Bokmål:
politbyrå
— senior governing or policymaking body in a political or other organization
Polish:
biuro polityczne
— senior governing or policymaking body in a political or other organization
Polish:
politbiuro
— senior governing or policymaking body in a political or other organization
