paper-pusher
Americannoun
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a person who has a routine desk job.
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a bureaucrat.
Other Word Forms
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“They sent my son over there as a paper pusher and then had the Taliban outside providing security,” Mr. Nikoui said at the time, according to the news organization.
From New York Times • Mar. 8, 2024
“They sent my son over there as a paper pusher and then had the Taliban outside providing security,” he said.
From New York Times • Aug. 28, 2021
“They sent my son over there as a paper pusher and then had the Taliban outside providing security,” Mr. Nikoui reportedly said.
From Washington Times • Aug. 27, 2021
As in, merely a paper pusher in the White House.
From Washington Post • Jul. 30, 2018
I would rather be an automaton in a factory than a paper pusher or a money hording entrepreneur.
From Tokyo to Tijuana: Gabriele Departing America by Sills, Steven (Steven David Justin)
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
