Jobsworth
//ˈd͡ʒɒbzwɜːθ// noun, slang
noun, slang ·Moderate ·College level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A person who upholds trivial rules unnecessarily and obstructively in order to exercise their (typically minor) authority. British, derogatory, informal
"The usual council jobsworths came down to tell them to stop playing football."
Example
More examples"It's amazing how much power a fluorescent jacket gives to a jobsworth."
Etymology
A compound of job + -s- + worth, derived from the phrase “It’s more than me job’s worth” or “... my job’s worth” as used in denial of a request by a functionary, chiefly popularized by Jeremy Taylor's 1973 song “Jobsworth” and the 1973–1994 BBC television series That’s Life! which focused on consumer affairs and gave a “Jobsworth of the Week” award to “a startling tale of going by the book”.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.