Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A position or office that requires little or no work but provides a salary.
  • noun Archaic An ecclesiastical benefice not attached to the spiritual duties of a parish.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun An ecclesiastical benefice without cure of souls.
  • noun Hence Any office or position giving profitable returns without requiring work.
  • Free from exaction; profitable without requiring labor; sinecural.
  • To place in a sinecure.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb To put or place in a sinecure.
  • noun An ecclesiastical benefice without the care of souls.
  • noun Any office or position which requires or involves little or no responsibility, labor, or active service.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A position that requires no work but still gives an ample payment; a cushy job.
  • verb transitive To put or place in a sinecure.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun an office that involves minimal duties
  • noun a benefice to which no spiritual or pastoral duties are attached

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

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

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin sine ("without") + cūrā ("care") in beneficium sine cūrā ("benefice without care").

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Examples

Comments

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  • literally means 'without cure (of souls)' in Latin, like you find in 'curate'. Refers to those positions in the church where someone didn't actually have a parish or didn't go. Remember your history about absentee priests?

    March 26, 2007

  • As seen in Ezra Pound's "Hugh Selwyn Mauberley"

    "I never mentioned a man but with the view

    "Of selling my own works.

    "The tip's a good one, as for literature

    "It gives no man a sinecure."

    And no one knows, at sight a masterpiece.

    And give up verse, my boy,

    There's nothing in it."

    June 14, 2007

  • Cura is a false cognate in Latin—it actually means something like "cares," "responsibility," "concern." So sinecure actually means "without cares," or "without responsibility"; a job that doesn't actually require you to do anything.

    Just like insert currently unpopular famous person's job. Zing!

    December 19, 2007

  • I long for a sinecure.

    December 19, 2007

  • I get paid to make ghosts on Wordie. It requires a great deal of care.

    December 19, 2007

  • *cough*

    October 16, 2008

  • GSoC can be Sinecure ;)

    August 9, 2012

  • The antonym is cosinecure.

    Cosinecure : Position or job which requires temendous effort, while offering little or no reward. Opposite of sinecure.

    http://grumbling-dragon.blogspot.com.es/2007/01/wow-january-19th.html

    May 22, 2014