Examples of make-work in a Sentence
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Sharma, instead of being celebrated as a hero, was transferred out of the district to a make-work desk job.
—
Andrew Marantz, New Yorker, 28 Apr. 2025
Unsurprisingly, the small army of senior executives with make-work jobs and self-important titles, who add little to nothing to build Hearst’s brands, apparently made it through today relatively unscathed.
—Caitlin Huston, The Hollywood Reporter, 21 Nov. 2024
Building on his research on youth employment, Lerman’s apprenticeship model centered on work experience that could develop skills and deliver services and products that were not make-work.
—Michael Bernick, Forbes, 15 Oct. 2024
Those savings were achieved, in part, through the elimination of Depression-era make-work programs like the Civilian Conservation Corps and the Work Progress Administration.
—Patrick Gleason, Forbes, 20 Sep. 2024
Filtered through inexpert organizations, pumped up with more money than anyone knew how to spend, and pressed with demands for immediate results, Clinton’s drive to help women sometimes produced meaningless make-work with few long-term results.
—Foreign Affairs, 15 Feb. 2016
For those who can’t or won’t head West, the alternative games offer a make-work project for athletes to continue in some kind of competition, and also to earn money to keep going.
—Fred Weir, The Christian Science Monitor, 4 Mar. 2024
But social make-work projects don’t improve American living standards.
—Allysia Finley, WSJ, 31 Dec. 2023
New Deal relief and make-work programs provided something of a cushion for many destitute Americans who might now treat themselves to a small indulgence.
—Thomas Doherty, The Hollywood Reporter, 17 Mar. 2023
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Andrew Marantz, New Yorker, 28 Apr. 2025
Unsurprisingly, the small army of senior executives with make-work jobs and self-important titles, who add little to nothing to build Hearst’s brands, apparently made it through today relatively unscathed.
—Caitlin Huston, The Hollywood Reporter, 21 Nov. 2024
Building on his research on youth employment, Lerman’s apprenticeship model centered on work experience that could develop skills and deliver services and products that were not make-work.
—Michael Bernick, Forbes, 15 Oct. 2024
Those savings were achieved, in part, through the elimination of Depression-era make-work programs like the Civilian Conservation Corps and the Work Progress Administration.
—Patrick Gleason, Forbes, 20 Sep. 2024
Filtered through inexpert organizations, pumped up with more money than anyone knew how to spend, and pressed with demands for immediate results, Clinton’s drive to help women sometimes produced meaningless make-work with few long-term results.
—Foreign Affairs, 15 Feb. 2016
For those who can’t or won’t head West, the alternative games offer a make-work project for athletes to continue in some kind of competition, and also to earn money to keep going.
—Fred Weir, The Christian Science Monitor, 4 Mar. 2024
But social make-work projects don’t improve American living standards.
—Allysia Finley, WSJ, 31 Dec. 2023
New Deal relief and make-work programs provided something of a cushion for many destitute Americans who might now treat themselves to a small indulgence.
—Thomas Doherty, The Hollywood Reporter, 17 Mar. 2023
Cite this Entry
“Make-work.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/make-work. Accessed 24 Jul. 2025.
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