sinecure

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si·ne·cure

(sī′nĭ-kyo͝or′, sĭn′ĭ-)

1. A position or office that requires little or no work but provides a salary.

2. Archaic An ecclesiastical benefice not attached to the spiritual duties of a parish.

[From Medieval Latin (beneficium) sine cūrā, (benefice) without cure (of souls) : Latin sine, without + Latin cūrā, ablative of cūra, care; see cure.]

si′ne·cur·ism n.

si′ne·cur′ist n.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

sinecure

(ˈsaɪnɪˌkjʊə)

1. a paid office or post involving minimal duties

2. (Ecclesiastical Terms) a Church benefice to which no spiritual or pastoral charge is attached

[C17: from Medieval Latin phrase (beneficium) sine cūrā (benefice) without cure (of souls), from Latin sine without + cūra cure, care]

ˈsineˌcurism n

ˈsineˌcurist n

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

si•ne•cure

(ˈsaɪ nɪˌkyʊər, ˈsɪn ɪ-)

n.

1. an office or position requiring little or no work, esp. one yielding profitable returns.

2. Archaic. an ecclesiastical benefice without cure of souls.

[1655–65; < Medieval Latin (beneficium) sine cūrā (benefice) without care]

si′ne•cure•ship`, n.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Noun	1.	sinecure - a benefice to which no spiritual or pastoral duties are attached benefice, ecclesiastical benefice - an endowed church office giving income to its holder
	2.	sinecure - an office that involves minimal duties berth, billet, post, situation, position, office, place, spot - a job in an organization; "he occupied a post in the treasury"

sinecure

noun cushy number (informal), honesty, gravy train (slang), soft option, soft job (informal), money for jam or old rope (informal) a lucrative sinecure with a big law firm

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

Translations

sinecure

[ˈsaɪnɪkjʊəʳ] N → sinecura f

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

sinecure

n → Pfründe f, → Sinekure f (geh); this job is no sinecure! → diese Arbeit ist kein Ruheposten

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

sinecure

[ˈsaɪnɪkjʊəʳ] n → sinecura

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

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References in classic literature ?

There is a belfry-man whose sole duty is to attend to it; but this duty is the most perfect of sinecures -- for the clock of Vondervotteimittis was never yet known to have anything the matter with it.

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I have heard of a good many soft sinecures, but it seems to me that keeping toll-bridge on a glacier is the softest one I have encountered yet.

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That, perhaps, it was a little unjust, that all the great offices in this great office should be magnificent sinecures, while the unfortunate working-clerks in the cold dark room upstairs were the worst rewarded, and the least considered men, doing important services, in London.

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By some writers this office is called a sinecure. But not so.

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He received a salary on the staff of the National Guard, where he held a sinecure which was paid for by the city of Paris; he was government commissioner to a secret society; and filled a position of superintendence in the royal household.

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There being only five prisoners at Loewestein, the post of turnkey was not a very onerous one, but rather a sort of sinecure, given after a long period of service.

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During the months when navigation was closed Captain Jim's office was a sinecure.

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I walked in a world of their invention--they had no occasion whatever to draw upon mine; so that my time was taken only with being, for them, some remarkable person or thing that the game of the moment required and that was merely, thanks to my superior, my exalted stamp, a happy and highly distinguished sinecure. I forget what I was on the present occasion; I only remember that I was something very important and very quiet and that Flora was playing very hard.

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It is true that these projections were too far apart to make the balance of the ascent anything of a sinecure, but I at least had always within my reach a point of safety to which I might cling in case of accident.

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RELATES HOW OLIVER TWIST WAS VERY NEAR GETTING A PLACE WHICH WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN A SINECURE

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You must prepare yourself for a querulous invalid, and for no sinecure if you get the billet."

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Although elderly ladies play cards very little, just now, in American society, or, indeed, in any other, they have their inducements for rendering the well- known office of matron at a ball, a mere sinecure. Mrs.