bipartisan

adjective

bi·par·ti·san (ˌ)bī-ˈpär-tə-zən

-sən

-ˌzan,

chiefly British ˌbī-ˌpä-tə-ˈzan

Synonyms of bipartisan next

: of, relating to, or involving members of two parties

a bipartisan commission

specifically : marked by or involving cooperation, agreement, and compromise between two major political parties

bipartisan support for the bill

bipartisanism

(ˌ)bī-ˈpär-tə-zə-ˌni-zəm

-sə-

noun

bipartisanship

(ˌ)bī-ˈpär-tə-zən-ˌship

-sən-

noun

Did you know?

Bipartisan is a two-part word. The first element is the prefix bi-, which means "two"; the second is partisan, a word that traces through Middle French and north Italian dialect to the Latin part- or pars, meaning "part." Partisan itself has a long history as a word in English. It has been used as a noun in reference to a firm adherent to a party, faction, or cause (especially one exhibiting blind, prejudiced, and unreasoning allegiance), since the 16th century. The related adjective (meaning "of, relating to, or characteristic of a partisan") appeared in the 19th century, as did, after a space of some 50 years, the adjective bipartisan.

Examples of bipartisan in a Sentence

In his first Inaugural Address, Jefferson sounded a conciliatory, bipartisan note, averring that "we are all Republicans, we are all Federalists"—a trope copied in many inaugural addresses to follow. —

Sean Wilentz, Newsweek, 27 Jan. 2009

Seasoned observers of Washington tend to dismiss such talk of national unity and bipartisan cooperation as meaningless political boilerplate … —

Larissa MacFarquhar, New Yorker, 7 May 2007

Two recent national bipartisan blue-ribbon panels, the National Research Council Committee on Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children and the National Reading Panel, came to converging conclusions. —

Bennet A. Shawitz, New Republic, 6 Nov. 2000

The bill has bipartisan support.

Recent Examples on the Web

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Congress last year passed the law being challenged with broad bipartisan support and President Joe Biden signed it into law. —

Bart Jansen, USA TODAY, 11 Jan. 2025 Tulsi Gabbard, whom Mr. Trump has selected to be the director of national intelligence, is facing bipartisan concerns that have so far slowed the consideration of her prospective nomination. —

Carl Hulse, New York Times, 10 Jan. 2025 Key Background The law forcing the sale or ban of TikTok was fueled by bipartisan concerns over national security and data privacy despite the ByteDance denying connections to the Chinese government. —

Antonio Pequeño Iv, Forbes, 10 Jan. 2025 In a bipartisan vote, Congress last year passed the law, signed by President Joe Biden, out of national security concerns that the Chinese government ultimately would be able to access TikTok user data and manipulate content for U.S. audiences. —

Ted Johnson, Deadline, 10 Jan. 2025 See all Example Sentences for bipartisan