politician

Noun

politician (plural politicians)

1. One engaged in politics, especially an elected or appointed government official.
   • Politicians should serve the country's interest.
   • WHEN the mental growth of a man in public life ceases, he ought, for the sake of the community, to retire. Most of our mediocre or unsuccessful Presidents were slipping downhill mentally before they took office. Lincoln, Cleveland, Roosevelt, Wilson, and Coolidge broadened and strengthened as the...1928, Franklin D. Roosevelt, The Happy Warrior Alfred E. Smith, Houghton Mifflin, →OCLC, →OL, page 3

   Synonyms:

   politicker, pol, politico

2. Specifically, one who regards elected political office as a career.
   • Unlike the other candidates, I'm not a politician.
   • I never wanted to be one, and as far as I'm concerned, I'm not a politician now. Am I the best man for this job? Probably not. I am, however, the President of the United States, […]1996, Tom Clancy, Executive Orders, →ISBN, page 438
3. A politically active or interested person.
   • Only real politicians are interested in this issue.
   • You used to be such a politician. Do you remember the debates we held in Fitzroy's rooms?1863, “The Fountain Kloof”, in The Sunday at Home, page 211
4. A sly or ingratiating person.
   • There is a politician in every office.
   • Mrs. Dimitriou blushed at the compliment. "Antonios, you are such a politician," her husband chuckled.1969, David E. Sanford, My Village, My World, page 90