deskbound

American  

[desk-bound] / ˈdɛskˌbaʊnd /

adjective

1. doing sedentary work; working exclusively at a desk.

2. unfamiliar with actualities or practical matters outside one's own job.

   deskbound executives who can't grasp production problems.

3. noncombatant.

   deskbound generals.

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Etymology

Origin of deskbound

First recorded in 1940–45; desk + -bound ¹

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

deskbound

That means the messy, bizarre field trips remain a rite of passage for young professionals in an otherwise deskbound field.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 7, 2026

Many writers are deskbound anchorites; Kurkov is a compulsively social animal with a deep bench of illustrious friends.

From New York Times ● May 24, 2022

Two deskbound detectives get more than they bargain for when they take on a seemingly minor case that may turn out to be New York’s biggest crime.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 26, 2019

As director of Tootabi Hunting Safaris, outfitting mostly US clients on legal hunts of “50-plus species” on ranch land in five southern African countries, he is now mostly deskbound.

From The Guardian ● Nov. 4, 2018

What’s more, here was a way for Hoover, a deskbound functionary, to cast himself as a dashing figure—a crusader for the modern scientific age.

From "Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann