Standard Lemma guide

political

adj · noun · 11 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: /pəˈlɪt.ɪ.kəl/
  • Canada, General-American: /pəˈlɪt.ɪ.kəl/
  • Canada, General-American: [pəˈlɪɾ.ɪ.kəl]
  • Canada, General-American: /pəˈlɪt.ə.kəl/
  • Canada, General-American: [pəˈlɪɾ.ə.kəl]
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • Australian: /pəˈlɪt.ɪ.kəl/
  • Australian: [pəˈlɪɾ.ɪ.kəl]
  • New-Zealand: /pəˈlət.ə.kəl/
  • New-Zealand: [pəˈləɾ.ə.kəl]
  • CMU ARPABET: P AH0 L IH1 T AH0 K AH0 L Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
  • CMU ARPABET 2: P AH0 L IH1 T IH0 K AH0 L Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Concerning or relating to politics, the art and process of governing.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • Political principles are rarely absolute, as political logic holds an imperfect result by compromise is better than a theoretically perfect abstention from the political process in the opposition.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

adj

Meaning 2

Concerning a polity or its administrative components.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • Good political staff is hard to find, they may neither be ambitious and corrupted by power nor tempted by private sector careers.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

adj

Meaning 3

Inappropriately motivated by political calculation, as it pertains to elections, power dynamics, ideologies, etc.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: derogatory

Examples

  • The media alleged that the Federal Reserve chairman’s decision to cut rates before the election was political.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

adj

Meaning 4

Of or relating to views about social relationships that involve power, standing, influence or conflict.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

adj

Meaning 5

Interested in politics.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

6

noun

Meaning 6

A political agent or officer.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

7

noun

Meaning 7

A publication focusing on politics.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

8

noun

Meaning 8

A political prisoner.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

9

adjective

Meaning 9

involving or characteristic of politics or parties or politicians- Daniel Goleman

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • calling a meeting is a political act in itself
  • political pressure
  • a political machine
  • political office
  • political policy

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: nonpolitical

10

adjective

Meaning 10

of or relating to your views about social relationships involving authority or power

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • political opinions

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

11

adjective

Meaning 11

of or relating to the profession of governing

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • political career

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From politic + -al.

Across languages

Translations

124 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Afrikaans: politieke — concerning or relating to politics
  • Albanian: politik — concerning or relating to politics
  • Arabic: سِيَاسِيّ (siyāsiyy) — concerning or relating to politics
  • Armenian: քաղաքական (kʻaġakʻakan) — concerning or relating to politics
  • Asturian: políticu — concerning or relating to politics
  • Azerbaijani: siyasi — concerning or relating to politics
  • Bashkir: сәйәси (səyəsi) — concerning or relating to politics
  • Basque: politiko — concerning or relating to politics
  • Belarusian: паліты́чны (palitýčny) — concerning or relating to politics
  • Bengali: রাজনৈতিক (rajnōitik) — concerning or relating to politics
  • Bulgarian: полити́чески (politíčeski) — concerning or relating to politics
  • Buryat: политическэ (političjeske) — concerning or relating to politics
  • Catalan: polític — concerning or relating to politics
  • Chinese Cantonese: 政治 — concerning or relating to politics
  • Chinese Mandarin: 政治的 (zhèngzhìde) — concerning or relating to politics
  • Chinese Mandarin: 政治上的 (zhèngzhì shàng de) — concerning or relating to politics
  • Chinese Mandarin: 政治 (zhèngzhì) — concerning or relating to politics
  • Czech: politický — concerning or relating to politics
  • Danish: politisk — concerning or relating to politics
  • Dutch: politiek — concerning or relating to politics
  • Esperanto: politika — concerning or relating to politics
  • Estonian: poliitiline — concerning or relating to politics
  • Finnish: poliittinen — concerning or relating to politics
  • French: politique — concerning or relating to politics
  • Galician: político — concerning or relating to politics
  • Georgian: პოლიტიკური (ṗoliṭiḳuri) — concerning or relating to politics
  • German: politisch — concerning or relating to politics
  • Greek: πολιτικός (politikós) — concerning or relating to politics
  • Ancient Greek: πολιτικός (politikós) — concerning or relating to politics
  • Hebrew: פּוֹלִיטִי (políti) — concerning or relating to politics
  • Hindi: राजनीतिक (rājnītik) — concerning or relating to politics
  • Hindi: सियासी (siyāsī) — concerning or relating to politics
  • Hungarian: politikai — concerning or relating to politics
  • Icelandic: pólitísk — concerning or relating to politics
  • Ido: politikala — concerning or relating to politics
  • Interlingua: politic — concerning or relating to politics
  • Irish: polaitiúil — concerning or relating to politics
  • Italian: politico — concerning or relating to politics
  • Japanese: 政治的な (seijiteki na) — concerning or relating to politics
  • Kannada: ಆಳ್ವಿಕೆಯ (āḷvikeya) — concerning or relating to politics
  • Kannada: ರಾಜಕೀಯ (rājakīya) — concerning or relating to politics
  • Kannada: ರಾಜಕೀಯದ (rājakīyada) — concerning or relating to politics
  • Kannada: ರಾಜ್ಯನೀತಿಯ (rājyanītiya) — concerning or relating to politics
  • Kannada: ರಾಜ್ಯಾಡಳಿತದ (rājyāḍaḷitada) — concerning or relating to politics
  • Kazakh: саяси (saäsi) — concerning or relating to politics
  • Khmer: នយោបាយ (nĕəʼyoobaay) — concerning or relating to politics
  • Korean: 정치 (jeongchi) — concerning or relating to politics
  • Korean: 정치적 (jeongchijeok) — concerning or relating to politics
  • Northern Kurdish: siyasî — concerning or relating to politics
  • Northern Kurdish: polîtîk — concerning or relating to politics
  • Kyrgyz: саясий (sayasiy) — concerning or relating to politics
  • Latin: polīticus — concerning or relating to politics
  • Latvian: politisks — concerning or relating to politics
  • Macedonian: политички (politički) — concerning or relating to politics
  • Malay: politik — concerning or relating to politics
  • Malayalam: രാഷ്ട്രീയമായ (rāṣṭrīyamāya) — concerning or relating to politics
  • Māori: tōrangapū — concerning or relating to politics
  • Marathi: राजकीय (rājkīya) — concerning or relating to politics
  • Mongolian: улс төрийн (uls töriin) — concerning or relating to politics
  • Mongolian: ᠤᠯᠤᠰ ᠲᠥᠷᠦ ᠶ᠋ᠢᠨ (ulus törü-yin) — concerning or relating to politics
  • Norwegian Bokmål: politisk — concerning or relating to politics
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: politisk — concerning or relating to politics
  • Occitan: politic — concerning or relating to politics
  • Pashto: سياسي (seyāsí) — concerning or relating to politics
  • Persian: سیاسی (siyâsi) — concerning or relating to politics
  • Polish: polityczny — concerning or relating to politics
  • Portuguese: político — concerning or relating to politics
  • Punjabi: ਸਿਆਸੀ (siāsī) — concerning or relating to politics
  • Punjabi: ਰਾਜਨੀਤਿਕ (rājnītik) — concerning or relating to politics
  • Romanian: politic — concerning or relating to politics
  • Russian: полити́ческий (politíčeskij) — concerning or relating to politics
  • Scots: poleetical — concerning or relating to politics
  • Scottish Gaelic: poileataigeach — concerning or relating to politics
  • Serbo-Croatian: полѝтичкӣ — concerning or relating to politics
  • Serbo-Croatian: polìtičkī — concerning or relating to politics
  • Sindhi: سياسي (syāse) — concerning or relating to politics
  • Slovak: politický — concerning or relating to politics
  • Slovene: političen — concerning or relating to politics
  • Spanish: político — concerning or relating to politics
  • Swedish: politisk — concerning or relating to politics
  • Tagalog: pampolitika — concerning or relating to politics
  • Tajik: сиёсӣ (siyosi) — concerning or relating to politics
  • Tatar: сәяси (säyäsi) — concerning or relating to politics
  • Tetum: polítiku — concerning or relating to politics
  • Thai: การเมือง (gaan-mʉʉang) — concerning or relating to politics
  • Turkish: siyasi — concerning or relating to politics
  • Turkish: siyasal — concerning or relating to politics
  • Turkish: politik — concerning or relating to politics
  • Ottoman Turkish: سیاسی (siyâsî) — concerning or relating to politics
  • Turkmen: syýasy — concerning or relating to politics
  • Tuvan: политиктиг (politiktig) — concerning or relating to politics
  • Ukrainian: політи́чний (politýčnyj) — concerning or relating to politics
  • Urdu: سیاسی (siyāsī) — concerning or relating to politics
  • Uyghur: سىياسى (siyasi) — concerning or relating to politics
  • Uzbek: siyosiy — concerning or relating to politics
  • Vietnamese: chính trị — concerning or relating to politics
  • Welsh: gwleidyddol — concerning or relating to politics
  • Yakut: политическай (političeskay) — concerning or relating to politics
  • Yiddish: פּאָליטיש (politish) — concerning or relating to politics
  • Catalan: polític — motivated by political calculation
  • Dutch: partijpolitiek — motivated by political calculation
  • Dutch: politiek — motivated by political calculation
  • Finnish: poliittinen — motivated by political calculation
  • Galician: político — motivated by political calculation
  • Greek: πολιτικός (politikós) — motivated by political calculation
  • Hebrew: פּוֹלִיטִי (políti) — motivated by political calculation
  • Japanese: 政治的な (seijiteki na) — motivated by political calculation
  • Latvian: politisks — motivated by political calculation
  • Macedonian: политички (politički) — motivated by political calculation
  • Portuguese: político — motivated by political calculation
  • Punjabi: ਸਿਆਸਤੀ (siāsatī) — motivated by political calculation
  • Romanian: politic — motivated by political calculation
  • Russian: полити́ческий (politíčeskij) — motivated by political calculation
  • Dutch: politiek — of or relating to views about social relationships that involve power or authority
  • Finnish: poliittinen — of or relating to views about social relationships that involve power or authority
  • Greek: πολιτικός (politikós) — of or relating to views about social relationships that involve power or authority
  • Greek: πολιτειακός (politeiakós) — of or relating to views about social relationships that involve power or authority
  • Greek: δημόσιος (dimósios) — of or relating to views about social relationships that involve power or authority
  • Hebrew: פוליטי (políti) — of or relating to views about social relationships that involve power or authority
  • Japanese: 政治的な (seijiteki na) — of or relating to views about social relationships that involve power or authority
  • Latvian: politisks — of or relating to views about social relationships that involve power or authority
  • Macedonian: политички (politički) — of or relating to views about social relationships that involve power or authority
  • Romanian: politic — of or relating to views about social relationships that involve power or authority
  • Russian: полити́ческий (politíčeskij) — of or relating to views about social relationships that involve power or authority
Real reading context

political in complete knowledge articles