political
Americanadjective
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of, relating to, or concerned with politics.
political writers.
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of, relating to, or connected with a political party.
a political campaign.
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exercising or seeking power in the governmental or public affairs of a state, municipality, etc..
a political machine;
a political boss.
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of, relating to, or involving the state or its government.
a political offense.
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having a definite policy or system of government.
a political community.
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of or relating to citizens.
political rights.
adjective
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of or relating to the state, government, the body politic, public administration, policy-making, etc
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of, involved in, or relating to government policy-making as distinguished from administration or law
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of or relating to the civil aspects of government as distinguished from the military
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of, dealing with, or relating to politics
a political person
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of, characteristic of, or relating to the parties and the partisan aspects of politics
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organized or ordered with respect to government
a political unit
Other Word Forms
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antipoliticaladjective
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nonpoliticaladjective
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overpoliticaladjective
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prepoliticaladjective
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pseudopoliticaladjective
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quasi-politicaladjective
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subpoliticaladjective
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unpoliticaladjective
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antipoliticallyadverb
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nonpoliticallyadverb
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overpoliticallyadverb
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politicallyadverb
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prepoliticallyadverb
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quasi-politicallyadverb
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subpoliticallyadverb
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unpoliticallyadverb
Etymology
Origin of political
First recorded in 1545–55; from Latin polītic(us) “civic” ( see politic) + -al 1
Explanation
Things that are political have to do with government, elections, and how society is run. Congress, state representatives, even county council members are all part of our political system. The Republicans and Democrats are the two main political parties in America — they support political candidates that run for office. The major things that politicians discuss, like balancing the budget, raising taxes, and immigration laws, are political issues. But if someone gets a promotion just because they're friends with the boss, you'd also say it was totally political. In other words, they got ahead because of their connections rather than their qualifications, just like a lot of politicians.
Vocabulary lists containing political
Nothing But the Truth
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Florida EOC Civics
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Herbert Hoover on "Rugged Individualism" (1928)
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
It’s unusual for American political parties to hold a convention for midterm elections, as they instead typically focus on running such events only during presidential-election years.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 10, 2026
While political headwinds remain a hindrance to education reform, these recent legislative developments show that policies supporting evidence-based literacy can gain traction across diverse constituencies.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 2026
The U.S. border with Mexico represents a political borderline but it cannot sever many decades of complicated history and culture.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026
If public discussion, and perhaps political will, increasingly turns on claims about what scientists think, we should make more effort to find out.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 9, 2026
However, the overwhelming majority of White Southern citizens, as well as leaders of all stripes—from political, to religious, to civic— continued to resist the Supreme Court’s Brown decision.
From "Reaching for the Moon" by Katherine Johnson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
