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paper-pushing

  • a word derived from paper-pusher.
    paper-pusher
    noun
    a person who has a routine desk job.

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.

See Examples For:

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

From Los Angeles Times Jun. 15, 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

That’s because it takes roughly 24 hours of lab work and paper-pushing to set everything up; felicitously, 2 a.m. also happens to be when operating rooms are free of scheduled surgery.

From Washington Post Sep. 30, 2019

Doing that might well reduce some of the country’s health care spending that is going toward insurer profits and paper-pushing.

From New York Times May 16, 2016