Democratic
adj, noun ·Common ·High school level
Definitions
- 1 Synonym of democrat (“a supporter of democracy; an advocate of democratic politics (originally (historical) as opposed to the aristocrats in Revolutionary France)”). dated, in-plural
"This kingly government (as some call it) is a thing that our democraticks cannot brook: we are an undone people if we do not down with that."
- 1 Pertaining to democracy; constructed upon or in line with the principle of government chosen by the people.
"The United States is a democratic country, as the citizens are allowed to choose leaders to represent their interests."
- 2 Of, pertaining to, or supporting the Democratic Party. US, not-comparable
"The most recent Democratic president of the United States is Joe Biden."
- 3 Exhibiting social equality; egalitarian.
""Oh, I hold with the framers of the Constitution, that all men are created free and equal; likewise, all boys and girls," said democratic Kitty; […]"
- 4 Alternative letter-case form of democratic (“pertaining to democracy”). alt-of, not-comparable, rare
- 5 Alternative letter-case form of Democratic (“of, pertaining to, or supporting the Democratic Party”). US, alt-of
"Mount Vernon is run by a strong democratic party organization."
- 1 representing or appealing to or adapted for the benefit of the people at large wordnet
- 2 characterized by or advocating or based upon the principles of democracy or social equality wordnet
- 3 belong to or relating to the Democratic Party wordnet
Example
More examples"Introducing democratic ideas into that country will be a slow process."
Etymology
From Middle French democratique (“pertaining to democracy, democratic”) (modern French démocratique), and its etymon Late Latin democraticus (“pertaining to democracy, democratic; democrat”), from Ancient Greek δημοκρᾰτῐκός (dēmokrătĭkós, “of or for democracy; favouring or suited for democracy”), from δημοκρᾰτῐ́ᾱ (dēmokrătĭ́ā, “democracy”) + -ῐκός (-ĭkós, suffix with the sense ‘of or pertaining’ to forming adjectives). Δημοκρᾰτῐ́ᾱ (Dēmokrătĭ́ā) is derived from δῆμος (dêmos, “the common people; free citizens, sovereign people; popular assembly; popular government, democracy”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *deh₂- (“to divide; to share”)) + -κρᾰτῐ́ᾱ (-krătĭ́ā, suffix meaning ‘government; rule’) (from κρᾰ́τος (krắtos, “might, strength; dominion, power”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kret- (“insight, intelligence; strength”)) + -ῐ́ᾱ (-ĭ́ā, suffix forming feminine abstract nouns)). By surface analysis, demo- + -cratic or democrat + -ic.
Related phrases
More for "democratic"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.