hackwork

[ hak-wurk ]

/ ˈhækˌwɜrk /

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noun

writing, painting, or any professional work done for hire and usually following a formula rather than being motivated by any creative impulse.

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His boss, whom he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

His boss, who he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

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Origin of hackwork

First recorded in 1850–55; hack² + work

Words nearby hackwork

hackneyed, hack off, hacksaw, hacktivism, hacktivist, hackwork, Hacky Sack, had, hadal, Hadamard, Hadar

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use hackwork in a sentence

But much of his labour was heavy hackwork of a very uninteresting character.
Lives of the Engineers|Samuel Smiles
Care would be necessary to prevent the assignment to them of mere routine hackwork without training value.
College Teaching|Paul Klapper
He had in effect emancipated himself from hackwork, and could turn his attention to more congenial and ambitious labour.
Turner|William Cosmo Monkhouse
But much of the labor done was mere hackwork of a very uninteresting character.
The Life of George Stephenson and of his Son Robert Stephenson|Samuel Smiles

For two years he did literary hackwork, when he could get it, and wrote pastorals, epics and all manner of ambitious failures.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 3, Slice 6|Various

British Dictionary definitions for hackwork

hackwork

/ (ˈhækˌwɜːk) /

noun

undistinguished literary work produced to order

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012