Word.ws English Dictionary

ostrich politics

ostrich politics noun: a style of politics that evades rather than addresses problems; ostrichism.

Noun

ostrich politics (uncountable)

  1. (derogatory) A style of politics that evades rather than addresses problems; ostrichism.

Origin of ostrich politics

From ostrich + politics, calque of German Vogel-Strauß-Politik. Named after the common misconception that ostriches bury their heads in the sand when confronted with danger. First attested in the late 19th century.

Questions about ostrich politics

What does ostrich politics mean?
Ostrich politics means a style of politics that evades rather than addresses problems; ostrichism.
What part of speech is ostrich politics?
Ostrich politics is a noun.

Words near ostrich politics in the dictionary

  1. ostrich ferns
  2. ostrich instruction
  3. ostrich instructions
  4. ostrich policies
  5. ostrich policy
  6. ostrich politics
  7. ostrich-like
  8. ostriches
  9. ostrichism
  10. ostrichitis
  11. ostrichize

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: ostrich politics (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.

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