Sinecure

Pronunciation

• UK IPA: /ˈsaɪ.nɪ.kjÊŠÉ™/, /ˈsɪ.nɪ.kjÊŠÉ™/
• US IPA: /ˈsaɪ.nÉ™.kjʊɹ/, /ˈsɪn.É™.kjʊɹ/

Origin

From Latin sine ("without") + cūrā ("care") in beneficium sine cūrā ("benefice without care").

Full definition of sinecure

Noun

1. A position that requires no work but still gives an ample payment; a cushy job.
• 2009, Michael O'Connor, Quadrant, November 2009, No. 461 (Volume LIII, Number 11), Quadrant Magazine Limited, page 25:In the ADF, while the numbers vary between the individual services and the reserves, employment is no comfortable sinecure for any personnel and thus does not appeal to many people, male or female, especially under current pay scales.
• 2010, Mungo MacCallum, The Monthly, April 2010, Issue 55, The Monthly Ptd Ltd, page 28:However, by the time of World War II (if not before), politics, at least in the federal sphere, was no longer regarded as sinecure for well-intentioned part-timers.
• MacaulayA lucrative sinecure in the Excise.
2. An ecclesiastical benefice without the care of souls.
• Ayliffe, Universal Dictionary of Science, page 402A sinecure is a benefice without cure of souls.

Hypernyms

• (a position that requires no work but still gives a payment) position

Related terms

• sinecurism
• sinecurist

Verb

1. (transitive) To put or place in a sinecure.

Anagrams

• insecure