sinecure
noun
- office that requires or involves little or no responsibility, labour, or active service
Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /ˈsaɪ.nɪˌkjʊə/ / /ˈsɪn.ɪˌkjʊə/ / /ˈsaɪ.nəˌkjʊɹ/
adj
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”).
- 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.”
- 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.”
noun
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”).
- 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.”
- An ecclesiastical benefice without the care of souls.
verb
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”).
- To put or place in a sinecure.