political

political — adjective

1. connected with how a country, city, or party is run, including government decisi

1.adjectiveB1
Definition

connected with how a country, city, or party is run, including government decisions, public debate, and competition between parties.

Example

The newspaper printed a long political interview with the prime minister.

political + noun: interview / debate / adviser

Young voters are angry about rising rents and other political issues.

Common collocations
  • political party
  • political debate
  • political reform
  • political system
  • political adviser
Synonyms
  • governmental

    narrower; mainly about state institutions and official action

  • public

    broader; can describe society and services, not only politics

  • partisan

    narrower and often negative; stresses support for one party or side

Antonyms

Grammar Patterns

political + noun

be + political

Usage Note

Usually before nouns such as party, debate, reform, system, and adviser. Distinguish from sense 2 (INTERNAL POWER): this sense stays tied to public politics and government, not office power games inside one group.

Common Mistakes

She writes about politic history in South Korea.
She writes about political history in South Korea.
use political as the normal adjective before a noun.

2. used about a decision or action inside a school, office, club, or other group wh

2.adjectiveC1
Definition

used about a decision or action inside a school, office, club, or other group when it is really about gaining influence, protecting status, or helping one side.

Example

The board delayed the vote for political reasons, not practical ones.

fixed phrase: for political reasons

Choosing Mark's cousin as manager looked more political than fair.

Common collocations
  • political move
  • political decision
  • political fight
  • political appointment
Synonyms
  • strategic

    broader and often neutral; not always about status or influence

  • calculating

    stresses cold self-advantage more than group power

  • self-serving

    stronger and more negative; focuses on personal benefit

Antonyms

Grammar Patterns

for political reasons

be + political

political + move / decision / fight

Usage Note

Often critical rather than neutral. Common with nouns like reasons, move, fight, appointment, and promotion. Distinguish from sense 1 (GOVERNMENT MATTERS): the setting may be a workplace or club with no real link to national politics.

Common Mistakes

Hiring Mark's cousin was politics, not fair.
Hiring Mark's cousin was political, not fair.
use the adjective for a choice driven by internal power; politics is a noun.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

These words overlap, but they point to different parts of public life. 'Political' is the broad everyday choice for anything linked with government, elections, public debate, or parties: a political speech, political reform, political pressure. 'Governmental' is narrower and sounds more official; it points to the actions or structure of the state itself. 'Public' is broader still, covering society, services, and shared life, so a public problem is not always a political one. 'Partisan' is narrower and more marked: it suggests strong support for one party or side, often with a critical tone. Compare: 'The tax plan caused a political argument in parliament,' but 'The ministry issued a governmental report.'

political ↗governmental ↗public ↗partisan

Common collocations

Adverbs

  • highly political
  • deeply political

Phrases

  • be political
  • get political
  • for political reasons

Etymology

GreekLatinFrenchEnglish

Political came into English in the early 1500s from French and Latin forms of the same word, and those go back to Greek 'politikos', meaning 'connected with citizens or public life'. The Greek base was 'polis', a city or state. Because public life in ancient city-states was closely tied to governing, the word developed the modern sense of government, parties, and public affairs. The later everyday use about office power games keeps the same core idea of people competing for influence.