beltway
/ˈbɛltˌweɪ/
beltway noun: a freeway that encircles a city.
Noun
beltway (plural beltways)
Proper noun capitalized: Beltway
Beltway
- A 64-mile Interstate freeway surrounding Washington, D.C.
- The expressway that surrounds another city.
- The US federal government and policy and lobbying organizations, located in Washington, D.C., sometimes with a suggestion of their elitism or insularity
- But given that it takes 60 votes to beat a filibuster and 66 to override a veto, and given that the GOP has since added four hard-right senators to its total, it’s safe to say that nothing will be happening inside the Beltway anytime soon.2005 May, Bill McKibben, “Climate of Denial”, in Mother Jones
- While not the entirety of the reason why the Beltway struggles to shed its imperial hubris and adapt to the new multipolar world, (much of that is simply complacency) understanding democratism’s hold over the governing elite is vital for explaining the unique hostility found in so much of foreign...2023 April 17, Christopher Mott, “The Democratist War on Diplomacy”, in The National Interest
Adjective capitalized: Beltway
Beltway (comparative more Beltway, superlative most Beltway)
- Of or relating to the culture of Washington, D.C., sometimes with a suggestion of its elitism or insularity; politicized.
- Apparently wishing to go Beltway in a big way, the Gap reportedly solicited Clinton spokesman George Stephanopoulos and media adviser Mandy Grunwald to pose for ads, but were turned down.1993 January 6, Mark Feeney, “Impeach me tender”, in Boston Globe, page 28
- In a typical indictment, one columnist recently called some piece of Washington policymaking "too secret, too expert, too Beltway."1997, Kurt Finsterbusch, Annual Editions: Sociology, 97-98
Synonyms of beltway
Forms of beltway
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | beltways |
| Adjective | |
| comparative | more Beltway |
| superlative | most Beltway |
Origin of beltway
From belt + way.
Extended from beltway (“freeway encircling a city”); compare also highway.
Words formed from beltway
- Beltway bandit
- inside-the-Beltway
- outside the Beltway
Phrases with beltway
Questions about beltway
- What does beltway mean?
- Beltway means a freeway that encircles a city.
- What part of speech is beltway?
- Beltway can be a noun, a proper noun or an adjective.
- How do you pronounce beltway?
- Beltway is pronounced /ˈbɛltˌweɪ/.
- What is the plural of beltway?
- The plural of beltway is beltways.
Words near beltway in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: beltway (page history and authors); Beltway (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Cite this entry: “beltway.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/beltway. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.