What does "make-work" mean?

An activity or task assigned or undertaken for the sake of activity or busy-ness, rather than because of a particular need.

What is a synonym for "make-work"?

Common synonyms include: assignment, busywork, charge, chore, commission, duty.

//ˈmeɪkwəːk// noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Noun

1
An activity or task assigned or undertaken for the sake of activity or busy-ness, rather than because of a particular need. US, uncountable
"I once described this rather vulgarly as a Euro-wanking make-work project and I do not resile from that."
2
active work of little value wordnet

"I once described this rather vulgarly as a Euro-wanking make-work project and I do not resile from that."

From make + work.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.