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Sinecure

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(pronounced sy-nih-kyoor or sin-ih-kyoor; “kyoor” pronounced like the word “cure”)  noun

Definition

an office or position that requires little or no work but provides the holder an income, other financial benefit, or high prestige.

Main Example

• If you think the U.S. House in the nation’s capital is up to no good, you’re probably not too far from the truth. A few years ago, a report on ABC’s “World News Tonight” indicated what a sinecure a Congressman’s job has become. Most members of the House work only Tuesday through Thursday, yet enjoy a hefty salary of $174,000. No wonder important things aren’t getting done, says the highly respected Norm Ornstein of American Enterprise Institute.

Workplace Examples

• Have you ever wondered why Jim keeps turning down job offers from the corporate office in Chicago, despite all the enhanced visibility and higher pay he’ll get there? It’s because his assignment in Mexico City requires very little work, and allows him time to play golf even on most weekdays. His present job is a sinecure!
• Did you know that Michael--the young fellow we just met in the mail room--gets paid a full salary just to show up for four or five hours a day? Ted, our firm’s founder and CEO, is so confident of Michael’s gifts as an artist and writer that he has bestowed upon him this company sinecure. This way Michael can earn a living while pursuing his short story writing and painting which, as of yet, haven’t yielded him anything financially.

Other Examples

• this author telling a friend: “You know how much I love watching and analyzing movies, especially my passion for telling people about movies that can really impact their lives. Well, I wish I had famed film critic A.O. Scott’s job…where you make handsome money watching and critiquing a few movies a week. Don’t you think it would be a nice little sinecure?”
• somebody accepting a job offer because she believes it’ll be a sinecure and will enable her to live the good life she has long sought
• referring to the fact that Robert McNamara was against the Vietnam War all along--even while he was serving as President Johnson’s defense secretary and helping prosecute that war--but chose not to speak out against it until the 1990s, a critical Sen. John Kerry telling an interviewer a few years ago: “Instead of speaking out when he should have, McNamara retreated to the sinecure of the World Bank.” [The late McNamara was president of the World Bank from 1968-1981.]
• the corporate boardroom sinecures enjoyed by some, thanks to their glowing resumes: for instance, according to NPR, Robert Rubin--a former Goldman Sachs co-chair and U.S. treasury secretary--being paid $150 million in cash and stock by Citigroup for advisory services from 1999-2007, during which time he held no day-to-day responsibilities

© 2014 V.J. Singal
No part of this may be reproduced in any form without written permission of the author.

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