slave driver

noun

1. an overseer of enslaved laborers and enforcer of hierarchy and discipline in the institution of chattel slavery.
2. a hard taskmaster:

   His boss was a slave driver.

slave-driver

noun

1. (esp formerly) a person forcing slaves to work
2. an employer who demands excessively hard work from his employees

Word History and Origins

Origin of slave driver¹

An Americanism dating back to 1800–10

Example Sentences

Colleagues describe Kashkari as sharp, meticulous, and something of a slave driver, despite having a lighthearted sense of humor.

From The Daily Beast

No doubt you would give free play to the strap and the rawhide and other implements of the slave-driver.

From Project Gutenberg

Next came a swaggering bully of a slave-driver, evidently bred in the North.

From Project Gutenberg

She had in her beautiful kindness redeemed his soul from ignorance, as she had purchased his body from the slave-driver's lash.

From Project Gutenberg

This was a sight not new; but in their midst he caught a glimpse of a crested helmet and the black cloak of a slave-driver.

From Project Gutenberg

He neglected his carving, waged bloody battles with his fellow workmen, bullied Master Tobias like any slave-driver.

From Project Gutenberg