busywork

[biz-ee-wurk]

noun

1. work assigned for the sake of looking or keeping busy.

Word History and Origins

Origin of busywork¹

First recorded in 1840–50; busy + work

Example Sentences

On the education front, instead of consulting books and other arcane text to write papers or prepare for exams, some students are offloading that busywork to ChatGPT.

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The specifics of the mission are as mysterious as these men’s names as we watch them carry out the minutiae of military busywork.

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Although it can automate busywork, it may also replicate the harmful biases of the people who created it.

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She made me start to believe that the busywork I might delegate to a machine is actually more human, and valuable, than I realized.

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Lindell claims he's not trying to disrupt elections offices by overwhelming them with pointless busywork, but the timing and repetitiveness of the requests say otherwise.

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