Is internal politicking a Machiavellian dark art or vital oil for the wheels of higher education leadership?
Source: wiktionary
Politicking
Synonyms for "politicking" (2 found)
Ranked by relevance and common usage.
Related word relations
OpenGloss and ConceptNet supply richer edges like generalizations, collocations, and derivations.
derived
1 entriesform of
2 entrieshas context
1 entriesrelated to
4 entriesTranslations
4 translations across 4 languages.
Finnish
1 entries- politikointi noun (act of engaging in politics)
Galician
1 entries- politiqueo noun (act of engaging in politics)
Portuguese
1 entries- politicagem noun (act of engaging in politics)
Spanish
1 entries- politiqueo noun (act of engaging in politics)
Sample sentences
4 total sentences available.
There’s politics, and there’s politicking. Politics relates to the process of governing and making policy. Politicking refers to the tactics needed to acquire or retain the power of politics itself. Politics is an esteemed term, while politicking is usually used in a derogatory way.
Source: wiktionary
As Combet pointed out in 2009, that sort of too-clever-by-half politicking can get you into trouble. It can sink the boat you really want to sail.
Source: wiktionary
The pop star has long avoided partisan politicking—but in the culture industries, making a show of social liberalism is increasingly the only option.
Source: wiktionary
Keep exploring
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.