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🇨🇳Chinese Source WordCode: ZH

繁文缛节

Pronunciation / Transliteration: fán wén rù jié

🇬🇧 Direct English Meaning:
Red tape/ˌred ˈteɪp/
nounCEFR C1 (Advanced)Top #8500 frequency
Full Thesaurus
🇨🇳 Example Sentence in Chinese:

"我们必须消除这些繁文缛节。"

Comprehensive Definitions & Senses

2 senses
As noun
  1. 1

    Official rules and processes that are considered to be unnecessary and to cause delays.

    "The company struggled to secure the building permit due to endless municipal red tape."
  2. 2

    Rigid adherence to bureaucratic regulations or legal formalities.

    "We need to cut through the red tape if we want to get this aid delivered promptly."
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Thesaurus & Semantic Spectrum

Antonyms & Contrasting Words (1)

Linguistic Origin & Historical Etymology

Originating in the 17th century, the term derives from the actual red tape or red string used by legal and government administrators in Great Britain to tie up official documents and bundles of legal papers. Over time, the physical material became a metonym for the excessive official formality, rigid adherence to rules, and tedious administrative delays characteristic of bureaucracy.

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