Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A usually expansionist national policy having as its sole principle advancement of the national interest.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun politics Pragmatic international government policy concerned with perceived interests of the nation.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun politics based on practical rather than moral or ideological considerations

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[German : real, practical (from Late Latin reālis, real; see real) + Politik, politics (from French politique, political, policy; see politic).]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Borrowing from German Realpolitik.

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Examples

Comments

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  • I read this word in two articles today, so it must be a conspiracy to force me to learn the meaning of the word, and not just let my brain wander and think about apparatchik and beatniks.

    November 13, 2015