make-work

[ meyk-wurk ]

noun

1. work, usually of little importance, created to keep a person from being idle or unemployed.

make-work

1. Publicly provided employment that is designed primarily to relieve unemployment and only incidentally to accomplish important tasks. If private employers are hiring few people because of a business slump, the government can “make work” for people to do.

Word History and Origins

Origin of make-work¹

1935–40, Americanism; noun use of verb phrase make work

Example Sentences

“There’s no Hoover Dam or Lincoln Tunnel on the other side of this nonsense spending. Just Potemkin jobs and a new make-work program when there’s plenty of work to go around,” he said.

From Washington Times

A similar move here and bam – debt would be paid, make-work tolls could be gone, Seattle waterfront saved.

From Seattle Times

“But it’s hard not to conclude that some shuttle missions have felt like make-work projects undertaken more to keep astronauts in orbit rather than because they were essential.”

From Los Angeles Times

Kagan suggested the “make-work” requirement was simply an attempt to try to make it harder for the convicted to get relief from federal courts.

From Washington Post

But Justice Elena Kagan, writing for herself and the court’s two other liberal justices, said requiring courts to apply both tests was “make-work.”

From Seattle Times