democratic

democratic — adjective

1. relating to a way of governing in which citizens choose their leaders through re

1.adjectiveB1
Definition

relating to a way of governing in which citizens choose their leaders through regular elections and share equal political rights

Example

The country held its first democratic elections in 1992, allowing citizens to choose their own leaders.

democratic elections — common political collocation

Owen argued that a democratic government must protect the right to speak freely.

Common collocations
  • democratic government
  • democratic elections
  • democratic society
  • democratic institutions
  • democratic constitution
  • democratic reform
  • democratic rule
  • democratic republic
  • democratic rights
  • democratic country
Synonyms
  • representative

    narrower — refers specifically to a system where elected officials act on behalf of citizens

  • parliamentary

    narrower — describes systems with a parliament, a specific form of democratic government

  • republican

    narrower — refers to a state without a monarch, often but not always democratic

Antonyms
  • dictatorial

    opposite — rule by a single leader with absolute power

  • autocratic

    opposite — rule by one person with unlimited authority

  • totalitarian

    stronger opposite — a regime that controls nearly all aspects of public and private life

Grammar Patterns

democratic + noun

Usage Note

Often appears before nouns such as 'government', 'election', 'society', 'rights', and 'institution'. When capitalised (Democratic), it forms part of the official name of a political party, e.g. the Democratic Party in the United States — a separate, proper-noun sense.

Common Mistakes

Democratic means a country where the leader is always liked by everyone.
Democratic refers to a political system where people choose leaders through voting, not necessarily that everyone agrees with the leader.
confusing democratic with popular.
The US is a democratic republic, while the UK is democratic too.
The US is a democratic republic, while the UK is a constitutional monarchy with democratic institutions.
failing to distinguish democratic as a descriptor of systems from democratic as a type of state.

2. allowing every member of a group, company, or institution to take part in decisi

2.adjectiveB2
Definition

allowing every member of a group, company, or institution to take part in decisions on an equal basis without any one person having more power

Example

The school introduced a democratic system where students vote on class rules.

democratic system — describing internal decision-making

Antonia runs her team using a democratic method and asks everyone for their opinion.

Common collocations
  • democratic process
  • democratic principles
  • democratic system
  • democratic structure
  • democratic way
  • democratic method
  • democratic workplace
  • democratic decision-making
Synonyms
  • participatory

    emphasises active involvement in decision-making rather than just the principle of equality

  • egalitarian

    broader — describes a belief in equal rights for all people, not just in decision-making

  • inclusive

    overlapping — emphasises that no one is left out of the process

Antonyms
  • autocratic

    opposite — decisions are made by one person without consulting others

  • hierarchical

    contrasting — a structure where power flows from top to bottom

  • authoritarian

    opposite — requiring strict obedience without input from members

Grammar Patterns

democratic + noun

Usage Note

Common with nouns describing groups or structures: 'workplace', 'school', 'club', 'family', 'committee'. Unlike sense 1 (ELECTED GOVERNMENT), this sense does not refer to a country's political system — shift is from state-level to group-level decision-making.

Common Mistakes

My boss is very democratic.
My boss runs the department in a democratic way.
democratic describes the system or process, not a person's personality.
We had a democratic vote to choose where to eat lunch.
We voted to choose where to eat lunch.
using democratic for trivial votes sounds exaggerated; reserve for important decisions about rules or policies.

Word family

  • democracy
    nounB1
  • democrat
    nounB2
  • democratically
    adverbB2
  • democratize
    verbC1
  • undemocratic
    adjectiveB2

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

All four words describe forms of government where citizens have a voice, but they differ in emphasis. Democratic is the broadest term: it focuses on the principle that ordinary people hold political power, either directly or through elected representatives. Representative narrows the focus to systems where citizens vote for officials who make decisions on their behalf — most modern democracies are representative democracies rather than direct ones. Parliamentary is a more specific structural term: it describes a system where the executive branch derives its legitimacy from the legislature (parliament), as in the UK, Canada, or India. Republican refers to a state without a monarch, where the head of state is an elected or appointed official; not all republics are democratic (e.g. China is a republic but not a democracy). Use democratic when talking about the general principle of rule by the people; use representative or parliamentary when describing the specific mechanisms; use republican when contrasting with monarchy.

democraticrepresentativeparliamentaryrepublican

Common collocations

Nouns

  • democratic system
  • democratic process
  • democratic principles
  • democratic values

Adverbs

  • truly democratic
  • fully democratic
  • genuinely democratic

Etymology

GreekFrenchEnglish

Democratic entered English in the late 1500s from the French word 'démocratique', which itself came from the Greek 'dēmokratikos', meaning 'of or relating to democracy'. The Greek root breaks down into 'dēmos' (the people, the common people) and 'kratos' (power, rule, strength) — so the word literally means 'power held by the people'. This core idea of popular rule has remained stable across four centuries, though the word later expanded from describing only governments to describing any group where members share in decision-making.