pencil pusher
Definition
Noun: 1. A person, typically a clerk or office worker, whose job involves routine, often tedious, paperwork or administrative tasks. This term often carries a mildly derogatory or dismissive connotation, implying the work is uncreative, bureaucratic, or unimportant.
Usage Examples
- Noun:
- He grew tired of being just a pencil pusher in a large corporation and decided to start his own business.
- The decision was delayed for weeks, stuck with the pencil pushers in the accounts department.
- She felt like a mere pencil pusher, filling out forms all day with no real impact.
Advanced Usage
- The term is often used to contrast with more dynamic, hands-on, or decision-making roles (e.g., ).
- It can be used self-deprecatingly by someone describing their own administrative job.
Variants and Related Words
- Paper-pusher (n): A direct synonym with identical meaning and connotation.
- Desk jockey (n): A similar informal term for someone who works at a desk, often with a connotation of being sedentary or removed from practical action.
Synonyms
- Clerk
- Administrator (in a dismissive context)
- Bureaucrat (emphasizing rigid adherence to rules)
- Office worker
Related Idioms
- Pushing paper: The activity associated with being a pencil pusher.
- He spent the afternoon pushing paper instead of working on the project.
Noun
-
a clerk who does boring paperwork
Khám phá thêm
Các từ liên quan
Từ đồng nghĩa
