taskmaster

[ task-mas-ter, tahsk-mah-ster ]
See synonyms for taskmaster on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a person whose function it is to assign tasks, especially burdensome ones, to others.

  2. a person who supervises rigorously the work of others.

Origin of taskmaster

1
First recorded in 1520–30; task + master

Other words from taskmaster

  • task·mas·ter·ship, noun

Words Nearby taskmaster

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use taskmaster in a sentence

  • CrossFitters work out in groups, moving to the demands of a benevolent taskmaster.

  • How could one face a régime in which the everlasting taskmaster held control?

  • In the words quoted with approval in the circular of 1835, the parish was to be "the hardest taskmaster and the worst pay-master."

  • One day, when Smith was threshing in the field, his cruel taskmaster beat him severely, although he had done nothing wrong.

    The Story of the Thirteen Colonies | H. A. (Hlne Adeline) Guerber
  • He had been rather a hard taskmaster, though as a paymaster trustworthy; a ready-money man, just and ungenerous.

    The Well-Beloved | Thomas Hardy
  • The words came in quick, gasping breaths, as a child might speak who tried to justify himself to his taskmaster.

    Flaming June | Mrs. George de Horne Vaizey

British Dictionary definitions for taskmaster

taskmaster

/ (ˈtɑːskˌmɑːstə) /


noun
  1. a person, discipline, etc, that enforces work, esp hard or continuous work: his teacher is a hard taskmaster

Derived forms of taskmaster

  • taskmistress, fem n

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012