"make-work" meaning in English

See make-work in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

IPA: /ˈmeɪkwəːk/ [UK] Audio: en-us-make-work.ogg [US]
Etymology: From make + work. Etymology templates: {{compound|en|make|work}} make + work Head templates: {{en-noun|-}} make-work (uncountable)
  1. (chiefly US) An activity or task assigned or undertaken for the sake of activity or busy-ness, rather than because of a particular need. Tags: US, uncountable Synonyms: makework Derived forms: make-work job Related terms: activity trap, busy work

Alternative forms

Download JSON data for make-work meaning in English (2.6kB)

{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "make",
        "3": "work"
      },
      "expansion": "make + work",
      "name": "compound"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From make + work.",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "-"
      },
      "expansion": "make-work (uncountable)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "American English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
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          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
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        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English exocentric verb-noun compounds",
          "parents": [
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            "Verb-noun compounds",
            "Exocentric compounds",
            "Verb-object compounds",
            "Compound terms",
            "Terms by etymology"
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          "source": "w"
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          "name": "English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
          "parents": [
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            "Entry maintenance"
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          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "derived": [
        {
          "word": "make-work job"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2011 November 10, Lord Gilbert, House of Lords Hansard",
          "text": "I once described this rather vulgarly as a Euro-wanking make-work project and I do not resile from that.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2011, Steven Pinker, The Better Angels of Our Nature, Penguin, published 2012, page 802",
          "text": "They are more sympathetic to immigration, free markets, and free trade, and less sympathetic to protectionism, make-work policies, and government intervention in business.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "An activity or task assigned or undertaken for the sake of activity or busy-ness, rather than because of a particular need."
      ],
      "id": "en-make-work-en-noun-8~kDKmxo",
      "links": [
        [
          "activity",
          "activity"
        ],
        [
          "task",
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        ],
        [
          "busy-ness",
          "busy-ness"
        ],
        [
          "need",
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        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(chiefly US) An activity or task assigned or undertaken for the sake of activity or busy-ness, rather than because of a particular need."
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "word": "activity trap"
        },
        {
          "word": "busy work"
        }
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "makework"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "US",
        "uncountable"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈmeɪkwəːk/",
      "tags": [
        "UK"
      ]
    },
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      "audio": "en-us-make-work.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/5/5c/En-us-make-work.ogg/En-us-make-work.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5c/En-us-make-work.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (US)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "make-work"
}
{
  "derived": [
    {
      "word": "make-work job"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "make",
        "3": "work"
      },
      "expansion": "make + work",
      "name": "compound"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From make + work.",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "-"
      },
      "expansion": "make-work (uncountable)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "activity trap"
    },
    {
      "word": "busy work"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
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        "English 2-syllable words",
        "English compound terms",
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        "English exocentric verb-noun compounds",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English nouns",
        "English terms with IPA pronunciation",
        "English terms with audio links",
        "English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English uncountable nouns",
        "Quotation templates to be cleaned"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2011 November 10, Lord Gilbert, House of Lords Hansard",
          "text": "I once described this rather vulgarly as a Euro-wanking make-work project and I do not resile from that.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2011, Steven Pinker, The Better Angels of Our Nature, Penguin, published 2012, page 802",
          "text": "They are more sympathetic to immigration, free markets, and free trade, and less sympathetic to protectionism, make-work policies, and government intervention in business.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
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        "An activity or task assigned or undertaken for the sake of activity or busy-ness, rather than because of a particular need."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "activity",
          "activity"
        ],
        [
          "task",
          "task"
        ],
        [
          "busy-ness",
          "busy-ness"
        ],
        [
          "need",
          "need"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(chiefly US) An activity or task assigned or undertaken for the sake of activity or busy-ness, rather than because of a particular need."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "US",
        "uncountable"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈmeɪkwəːk/",
      "tags": [
        "UK"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-us-make-work.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/5/5c/En-us-make-work.ogg/En-us-make-work.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5c/En-us-make-work.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (US)"
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "makework"
    }
  ],
  "word": "make-work"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-05-01 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-04-21 using wiktextract (f4fd8c9 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.

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