Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Activity, such as schoolwork or office work, meant to take up time but not necessarily yield productive results.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun active work of little value, performed merely to occupy time, avoid boredom, or to look busy.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun Alternative spelling for
busy work .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun active work of little value
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
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Examples
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In economics, model-builders 'busywork is to refine their ideas to ask questions to which the available data cannot give the answer.
Robert Solow on Model-Building, Arnold Kling | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty 2009
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I was given "busywork" and left alone all day long.
Who's Looking Out for You O'Reilly, Bill 2003
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The paperwork can't possibly be that burdensome if it's being called "busywork" and it lets experienced, but potentially outdated teachers slide by without testing their knowledge or technological savvy.
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This kind of busywork has been de rigeur since Lara raided her first tomb.
PopMatters 2008
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"busywork" program for unemployed, retired politicians to pick up an extra check at the expense of us, the U.S. taxpayers.
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As for homogenized busywork - that describes 75% of interesting jobs, and 95% of uninteresting jobs.
Page One of My Next Book, Bryan Caplan | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty 2009
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Sometimes I was absolutely terrified, but those were just a few hours, in a few days of months and months of busywork.
Furlough 2009
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"She makes writing a book sound like busywork ... the strain is as palpable as the voice is cute, and the drama is virtually nonexistent."
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Sometimes I was absolutely terrified, but those were just a few hours, in a few days of months and months of busywork.
Furlough 2009
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And the answer is, pretty far from the mindless and homogenized busywork they're currently forced to endure.
Page One of My Next Book, Bryan Caplan | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty 2009
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Grade school teachers called it “busywork” — pointless, time-wasting tasks to keep you from acting up and bothering them.
Opinion | It’s Time to Stop Living the American Scam By 2022
qroqqa commented on the word busywork
I rather think it is just busywork, and they would be better employed washing coffee mugs in the Senior Writers' Lounge here at Language Log Plaza.
—Geoff Pullum
October 21, 2008