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sinecure

noun
/ˈsaɪ.nɪˌkjʊə/UK/ˈsaɪ.nəˌkjʊɹ/CA/ˈsɑɪ.nɪˌkjʊə/

Etymology

From Ecclesiastical Latin sine cūrā (literally “without care”), ellipsis of beneficium sine cūrā (“benefice without cure [of souls, i.e. the office of a curate]”), formed from Medieval Latin sine (“without”) + cūrā (“care, charge, cure”).

  1. derived from sine — “without”
  2. borrowed from sine cūrā

Definitions

  1. A position that requires little to no work, or easy work, but still gives an ample payment

    A position that requires little to no work, or easy work, but still gives an ample payment; a cushy job.

    • Miss Briggs was not formally dismissed, but her place as companion was a sinecure and a derision […]
    • A lucrative sinecure in the Excise was bestowed on Ferguson.
    • His prospects consisted of a hope that if he kept up appearances somebody would do something for him. The something appeared vaguely to his imagination as a private secretaryship or a sinecure of some sort.

  2. An ecclesiastical benefice without the care of souls.

  3. Requiring no work for an ample reward.

    • By the act of union (1800), the offices of Irish secretary, a sinecure post, and lord lieutenant's secretary were combined.
  4. ›+ 2 more definitions

    1. Having the appearance of functionality without being of any actual use or purpose.

      • The old man hastily pulled down his spectacles from their sinecure office on his forehead, and looked at her with an expression of most angry amazement.

    2. To put or place in a sinecure.

The neighborhood

Derived

sinecural, sinecurism, sinecurist

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for sinecure. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA