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.
- To place in a sinecure.
- 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.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- 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.
- transitive verb To put or place in a sinecure.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A
position thatrequires nowork but still gives anample payment ; acushy 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 Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word sinecure.
Examples
-
Planning on enjoying a nice sinecure from the insurer by the time the patient dies.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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
seanmeade commented on the word sinecure
literally means 'without cure (of souls)' in Latin, like you find in 'curate'. Refers to those positions in the church where someone didn't actually have a parish or didn't go. Remember your history about absentee priests?
March 26, 2007
exlotuseater commented on the word sinecure
As seen in Ezra Pound's "Hugh Selwyn Mauberley"
"I never mentioned a man but with the view
"Of selling my own works.
"The tip's a good one, as for literature
"It gives no man a sinecure."
And no one knows, at sight a masterpiece.
And give up verse, my boy,
There's nothing in it."
June 14, 2007
adoarns commented on the word sinecure
Cura is a false cognate in Latin—it actually means something like "cares," "responsibility," "concern." So sinecure actually means "without cares," or "without responsibility"; a job that doesn't actually require you to do anything.
Just like insert currently unpopular famous person's job. Zing!
December 19, 2007
reesetee commented on the word sinecure
I long for a sinecure.
December 19, 2007
uselessness commented on the word sinecure
I get paid to make ghosts on Wordie. It requires a great deal of care.
December 19, 2007
whichbe commented on the word sinecure
*cough*
October 16, 2008
myth17 commented on the word sinecure
GSoC can be Sinecure ;)
August 9, 2012
catatoniatoday commented on the word sinecure
The antonym is cosinecure.
Cosinecure : Position or job which requires temendous effort, while offering little or no reward. Opposite of sinecure.
http://grumbling-dragon.blogspot.com.es/2007/01/wow-january-19th.html
May 22, 2014