"pencil pusher" meaning in All languages combined

See pencil pusher on Wiktionary

Noun [English]

Forms: pencil pushers [plural]
Etymology: US origin, 1881. Head templates: {{en-noun}} pencil pusher (plural pencil pushers)
  1. (informal, often derogatory) One who does routine office work; someone involved mainly in paperwork. Tags: derogatory, informal, often Categories (topical): Occupations, People Synonyms: office worker, bureaucrat, desk jockey, paper-pusher, pen-pusher, pencil-pusher Related terms: desk job, pixel pusher Translations (one who does office work): писар (pisar) [masculine] (Bulgarian), pixatinters [masculine] (Catalan), 管帳員 (Chinese Mandarin), 管帐员 (guǎnzhàngyuán) (Chinese Mandarin), kancelářská krysa [feminine] (Czech), ni-til-femmer [common-gender] (Danish), papirnusser [common-gender] (Danish), paberimäärija (Estonian), kynänpyörittäjä (Finnish), konttorirotta (Finnish), gratte-papier [masculine] (French), Bleistiftstemmer (German), Sesselfurzer (German), Bürohengst [masculine] (German), サラリーマン (Japanese), kontorrotte [feminine, masculine] (Norwegian), gryzipiórek [masculine] (Polish), biurokrata [feminine] (Polish), zarękawek [masculine] (Polish), urzędas [masculine] (Polish), conțopist [masculine] (Romanian), scriptolog [masculine] (Romanian), kancelárska krysa [feminine] (Slovak), chupatintas [masculine] (Spanish), cagatintas [masculine] (Spanish), tinterillo [masculine] (Spanish), plumífero [masculine] (Spanish), kontorsråtta [common-gender] (Swedish)

Inflected forms

Alternative forms

Download JSON data for pencil pusher meaning in All languages combined (5.8kB)

{
  "etymology_text": "US origin, 1881.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "pencil pushers",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "pencil pusher (plural pencil pushers)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with topic categories using raw markup",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with topic categories using raw markup",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
          "parents": [
            "Terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Occupations",
          "orig": "en:Occupations",
          "parents": [
            "People",
            "Work",
            "Human",
            "Human activity",
            "All topics",
            "Human behaviour",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "People",
          "orig": "en:People",
          "parents": [
            "Human",
            "All topics",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2012, Danielle Steel, The Sins of the Mother, Random House, page 285",
          "text": "“[…] I don't have her creative genius or her version. I'm a numbers man, like my father. A pencil pusher, as Amanda said.” With no balls, he added silently.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2013, Karin Slaughter, Busted, Random House",
          "text": "The internal investigator for the Macon Police Department had the dour, lifeless personality of a career pencil pusher.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "One who does routine office work; someone involved mainly in paperwork."
      ],
      "id": "en-pencil_pusher-en-noun-qqqVZ6M7",
      "links": [
        [
          "derogatory",
          "derogatory"
        ],
        [
          "routine",
          "routine"
        ],
        [
          "office",
          "office"
        ],
        [
          "work",
          "work"
        ],
        [
          "paperwork",
          "paperwork"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(informal, often derogatory) One who does routine office work; someone involved mainly in paperwork."
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "word": "desk job"
        },
        {
          "word": "pixel pusher"
        }
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "office worker"
        },
        {
          "word": "bureaucrat"
        },
        {
          "word": "desk jockey"
        },
        {
          "word": "paper-pusher"
        },
        {
          "word": "pen-pusher"
        },
        {
          "word": "pencil-pusher"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "derogatory",
        "informal",
        "often"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "bg",
          "lang": "Bulgarian",
          "roman": "pisar",
          "sense": "one who does office work",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "писар"
        },
        {
          "code": "ca",
          "lang": "Catalan",
          "sense": "one who does office work",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "pixatinters"
        },
        {
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "sense": "one who does office work",
          "word": "管帳員"
        },
        {
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "roman": "guǎnzhàngyuán",
          "sense": "one who does office work",
          "word": "管帐员"
        },
        {
          "code": "cs",
          "lang": "Czech",
          "sense": "one who does office work",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "kancelářská krysa"
        },
        {
          "code": "da",
          "lang": "Danish",
          "sense": "one who does office work",
          "tags": [
            "common-gender"
          ],
          "word": "ni-til-femmer"
        },
        {
          "code": "da",
          "lang": "Danish",
          "sense": "one who does office work",
          "tags": [
            "common-gender"
          ],
          "word": "papirnusser"
        },
        {
          "code": "et",
          "lang": "Estonian",
          "sense": "one who does office work",
          "word": "paberimäärija"
        },
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "one who does office work",
          "word": "kynänpyörittäjä"
        },
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "one who does office work",
          "word": "konttorirotta"
        },
        {
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "one who does office work",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "gratte-papier"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "one who does office work",
          "word": "Bleistiftstemmer"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "one who does office work",
          "word": "Sesselfurzer"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "one who does office work",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "Bürohengst"
        },
        {
          "code": "ja",
          "lang": "Japanese",
          "sense": "one who does office work",
          "word": "サラリーマン"
        },
        {
          "code": "no",
          "lang": "Norwegian",
          "sense": "one who does office work",
          "tags": [
            "feminine",
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "kontorrotte"
        },
        {
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "one who does office work",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "gryzipiórek"
        },
        {
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "one who does office work",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "biurokrata"
        },
        {
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "one who does office work",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "zarękawek"
        },
        {
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "one who does office work",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "urzędas"
        },
        {
          "code": "ro",
          "lang": "Romanian",
          "sense": "one who does office work",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "conțopist"
        },
        {
          "code": "ro",
          "lang": "Romanian",
          "sense": "one who does office work",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "scriptolog"
        },
        {
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "note": "канцеля́рская кры́са f (kanceljárskaja krýsa, literally “office rat”)",
          "sense": "one who does office work"
        },
        {
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "note": "черни́льная душа́ f (černílʹnaja dušá, literally “ink soul”)",
          "sense": "one who does office work"
        },
        {
          "code": "sk",
          "lang": "Slovak",
          "sense": "one who does office work",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "kancelárska krysa"
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "one who does office work",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "chupatintas"
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "one who does office work",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "cagatintas"
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "one who does office work",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "tinterillo"
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "one who does office work",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "plumífero"
        },
        {
          "code": "sv",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "sense": "one who does office work",
          "tags": [
            "common-gender"
          ],
          "word": "kontorsråtta"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "pencil pusher"
}
{
  "etymology_text": "US origin, 1881.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "pencil pushers",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "pencil pusher (plural pencil pushers)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "desk job"
    },
    {
      "word": "pixel pusher"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English countable nouns",
        "English derogatory terms",
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English entries with topic categories using raw markup",
        "English informal terms",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English nouns",
        "English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "en:Occupations",
        "en:People"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2012, Danielle Steel, The Sins of the Mother, Random House, page 285",
          "text": "“[…] I don't have her creative genius or her version. I'm a numbers man, like my father. A pencil pusher, as Amanda said.” With no balls, he added silently.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2013, Karin Slaughter, Busted, Random House",
          "text": "The internal investigator for the Macon Police Department had the dour, lifeless personality of a career pencil pusher.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "One who does routine office work; someone involved mainly in paperwork."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "derogatory",
          "derogatory"
        ],
        [
          "routine",
          "routine"
        ],
        [
          "office",
          "office"
        ],
        [
          "work",
          "work"
        ],
        [
          "paperwork",
          "paperwork"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(informal, often derogatory) One who does routine office work; someone involved mainly in paperwork."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "office worker"
        },
        {
          "word": "bureaucrat"
        },
        {
          "word": "desk jockey"
        },
        {
          "word": "paper-pusher"
        },
        {
          "word": "pen-pusher"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "derogatory",
        "informal",
        "often"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "pencil-pusher"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "bg",
      "lang": "Bulgarian",
      "roman": "pisar",
      "sense": "one who does office work",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "писар"
    },
    {
      "code": "ca",
      "lang": "Catalan",
      "sense": "one who does office work",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "pixatinters"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "sense": "one who does office work",
      "word": "管帳員"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "roman": "guǎnzhàngyuán",
      "sense": "one who does office work",
      "word": "管帐员"
    },
    {
      "code": "cs",
      "lang": "Czech",
      "sense": "one who does office work",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "kancelářská krysa"
    },
    {
      "code": "da",
      "lang": "Danish",
      "sense": "one who does office work",
      "tags": [
        "common-gender"
      ],
      "word": "ni-til-femmer"
    },
    {
      "code": "da",
      "lang": "Danish",
      "sense": "one who does office work",
      "tags": [
        "common-gender"
      ],
      "word": "papirnusser"
    },
    {
      "code": "et",
      "lang": "Estonian",
      "sense": "one who does office work",
      "word": "paberimäärija"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "one who does office work",
      "word": "kynänpyörittäjä"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "one who does office work",
      "word": "konttorirotta"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "one who does office work",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "gratte-papier"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "one who does office work",
      "word": "Bleistiftstemmer"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "one who does office work",
      "word": "Sesselfurzer"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "one who does office work",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "Bürohengst"
    },
    {
      "code": "ja",
      "lang": "Japanese",
      "sense": "one who does office work",
      "word": "サラリーマン"
    },
    {
      "code": "no",
      "lang": "Norwegian",
      "sense": "one who does office work",
      "tags": [
        "feminine",
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "kontorrotte"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "one who does office work",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "gryzipiórek"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "one who does office work",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "biurokrata"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "one who does office work",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "zarękawek"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "one who does office work",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "urzędas"
    },
    {
      "code": "ro",
      "lang": "Romanian",
      "sense": "one who does office work",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "conțopist"
    },
    {
      "code": "ro",
      "lang": "Romanian",
      "sense": "one who does office work",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "scriptolog"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "note": "канцеля́рская кры́са f (kanceljárskaja krýsa, literally “office rat”)",
      "sense": "one who does office work"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "note": "черни́льная душа́ f (černílʹnaja dušá, literally “ink soul”)",
      "sense": "one who does office work"
    },
    {
      "code": "sk",
      "lang": "Slovak",
      "sense": "one who does office work",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "kancelárska krysa"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "one who does office work",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "chupatintas"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "one who does office work",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "cagatintas"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "one who does office work",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "tinterillo"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "one who does office work",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "plumífero"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "sense": "one who does office work",
      "tags": [
        "common-gender"
      ],
      "word": "kontorsråtta"
    }
  ],
  "word": "pencil pusher"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable All languages combined dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-04-30 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-04-21 using wiktextract (210104c and c9440ce). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.