sinecure — definition, examples, related words and more at Wordnik (original) (raw)
Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A position or office that requires little or no work but provides a salary.
- noun Archaic An ecclesiastical benefice not attached to the spiritual duties of a parish.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun An ecclesiastical benefice without cure of souls.
- noun Hence Any office or position giving profitable returns without requiring work.
- Free from exaction; profitable without requiring labor; sinecural.
- To place in a sinecure.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- transitive verb To put or place in a sinecure.
- noun An ecclesiastical benefice without the care of souls.
- noun Any office or position which requires or involves little or no responsibility, labor, or active service.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A position that requires no work but still gives an ample payment; a cushy job.
- verb transitive To put or place in a sinecure.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun an office that involves minimal duties
- noun a benefice to which no spiritual or pastoral duties are attached
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
[From Medieval Latin (beneficium) sine cūrā, (benefice) without cure (of souls) : Latin sine, without + Latin cūrā, ablative of cūra, care; see cure.]
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
From Latin sine ("without") + cūrā ("care") in beneficium sine cūrā ("benefice without care").
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Examples
- Planning on enjoying a nice sinecure from the insurer by the time the patient dies.
Matthew Yglesias » The Leader of the Pack 2009 - When the claim Of a roan of distinguished merit arose, there was generally no vacancy of this kind; and when the vacancies occurred, the offices were in truth given away upon political or family considerations, without much re - gard to distinguished merit The word sinecure was a very unpopular word, and indeed so was the word pension, of which several no very favourable definitions had been given.
The Parliamentary Register: Or an Impartial Report of the Debates that Have Occured in the Two ... 1813 - It's what they call a sinecure, "Alan was saying at the very instant the summons came.
Brand Blotters William MacLeod Raine 1912 - Yeah, but at least Sullivan got elected to something even if its a minor town meeting based sinecure, that is way more than Kerry Healey could say prior to 2002.
The Chimes at Midnight 2006 - Another Dutchman asked him not to ruin his friend and his family for what he was well aware could never be called a sinecure place, and was so precarious in its tenure.
Complete Project Gutenberg Collection of Memoirs of Napoleon Various - Another Dutchman asked him not to ruin his friend and his family for what he was well aware could never be called a sinecure place, and was so precarious in its tenure.
Court Memoirs of France Series — Complete Various - The hated word sinecure did not seem to affect him from her lips as it would have done from any one else's.
Phoebe, Junior 1862 - Another Dutchman asked him not to ruin his friend and his family for what he was well aware could never be called a sinecure place, and was so precarious in its tenure.
Memoirs of the Court of St. Cloud (Being secret letters from a gentleman at Paris to a nobleman in London) — Volume 3 Lewis Goldsmith 1804 - Another Dutchman asked him not to ruin his friend and his family for what he was well aware could never be called a sinecure place, and was so precarious in its tenure.
Memoirs of the Court of St. Cloud (Being secret letters from a gentleman at Paris to a nobleman in London) — Complete Lewis Goldsmith 1804 - And starts a string of "sinecure" jobs with the Dailey machine, then the U of Chicago as a "Diversity Queen" with flexible hours...
"She shows women that it's OK to have dark skin and to not have a son. She's quite real to us." Ann Althouse 2009