desk jockey

American  

noun

Informal.

1. an office worker who sits at a desk, often as contrasted with someone who does more important or active work.

   desk jockeys at the CIA.

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Etymology

Origin of desk jockey

First recorded in 1950–55; modeled on disk jockey

Example Sentences

Daniel Pearce makes of Polonius a hilariously pedantic desk jockey and bad idea bear.

From New York Times • Jun. 28, 2023

Seth is a by-the-book desk jockey; Bud ignores the rules when they interfere with undead evisceration.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 11, 2022

In the first episode, the TVA paperwork clerk can be seen playing solitaire on his tiny orange-hued monitor, and you get the feeling he isn’t the only desk jockey running games on their work computer.

From The Verge • Jul. 13, 2021

Here’s what I can confirm about this latest incarnation of Clancy’s superhero desk jockey: John Krasinski acquits himself nicely.

From Salon • Aug. 25, 2018

It humanizes a man who almost immediately became controversialized as a naive, self-important desk jockey or, worse, a handmaiden to terrorists everywhere.

From Washington Post