quan liêu
Definition
Adjective:
- Bureaucratic: Characterized by excessive administration, rigid adherence to rules and procedures, and a focus on formal authority over practical results or public needs.
- Red-tape: Describes a system or style that is overly complicated by official rules, causing delay and inefficiency.
Noun:
- Bureaucrat: An official who works in a bureaucracy, especially one who is overly concerned with procedural power and formalities.
Usage Examples
Adjective:
- Phong cách lãnh đạo của ông ấy rất quan liêu. (His leadership style is very bureaucratic.)
- Thủ tục quan liêu khiến mọi việc chậm trễ. (Bureaucratic procedures cause delays in everything.)
Noun:
- Những quan liêu đó không hiểu gì về thực tế. (Those bureaucrats understand nothing about reality.)
Advanced Usage
"chủ nghĩa quan liêu": Bureaucratism; an over-reliance on bureaucracy as a system or ideology.
- Chủ nghĩa quan liêu đang kìm hãm sự sáng tạo. (Bureaucratism is stifling creativity.)
"tác phong quan liêu": Bureaucratic style/work style.
- Anh ta bị phê bình vì tác phong quan liêu. (He was criticized for his bureaucratic work style.)
Variants and Related Words
- Quan lại (n): Mandarins; historical term for officials in feudal systems. While related, "quan liêu" is a modern term focusing on systemic inefficiency.
- Bộ máy quan liêu (n): Bureaucratic apparatus/machine.
- Bộ máy quan liêu cần được cải cách. (The bureaucratic apparatus needs reform.)
Synonyms
- Bureaucratic: Administrative, official, procedural.
- Red-tape: Inflexible, rigid, formalistic.
Related Idioms
- "Ngồi bàn giấy": To be a desk jockey; to work in an office detached from practical realities. This idiom captures the spirit of being "quan liêu."
- Những kẻ chỉ biết ngồi bàn giấy đưa ra các quyết định sai lầm. (Those who are just desk jockeys make wrong decisions.)