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.

Was Putin some kind of super-spy, or more of a paper-pushing bureaucrat?

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 15, 2023

It’s a remake of Akira Kurosawa’s “Ikiru,” about a paper-pushing bureaucrat in postwar Japan roused out of his paralyzing inertia in the final months of his life.

From New York Times • Jan. 12, 2023

But Parekh said Elsheikh and the other Beatles were far more than paper-pushing functionaries.

From Seattle Times • Apr. 13, 2022

At first, The Office, like the British series on which it was based, took a cynical view of the 9-to-5 grind: It was all literal paper-pushing.

From Slate • May 29, 2020

So yes, we should try to wring administrative paper-pushing out of the system; and we should try to lower ridiculously high drug costs, particularly for life-saving drugs long off patent, such as insulin.

From Washington Post • Aug. 1, 2019