make-work

American  

[meyk-wurk] / ˈmeɪkˌwɜrk /

noun

1. work, usually of little importance, created to keep a person from being idle or unemployed.

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make-work Cultural  

1. Publicly provided employment that is designed primarily to relieve unemployment and only incidentally to accomplish important tasks. If private employers are hiring few people because of a business slump, the government can “make work” for people to do.

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Etymology

Origin of make-work

1935–40, noun use of verb phrase make work

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

make-work

Only this group included his wife, his brother and his personal lawyer, the latter two having been given some kind of make-work jobs at the Pentagon.

From Salon ● Apr. 21, 2025

“But it’s hard not to conclude that some shuttle missions have felt like make-work projects undertaken more to keep astronauts in orbit rather than because they were essential.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 3, 2022

Through the 1990s he was given make-work tasks, like assessing the environmental impact of space rockets.

From Seattle Times ● Mar. 9, 2021

And far from becoming more efficient, they said, they were increasingly bogged down with what they considered make-work.

From Washington Post ● Dec. 4, 2018

And the worst thing was that even with our make-work projects, we didn’t really have enough to do.

From "Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH" by Robert C. O'Brien