noun
- A person, especially an official or employee, who rigidly adheres to rules and procedures and refuses to use common sense or make exceptions.
Usage: British informal; often derogatory
Examples
- The jobsworth at the ticket counter refused to let me board even though I was only five minutes late.
- Don't bother asking for an exception—he's a real jobsworth who won't bend the rules for anyone.
- The security guard was such a jobsworth that he wouldn't let the elderly woman through without a photo ID.
- She complained that the jobsworth manager wouldn't approve her reasonable request without going through three layers of bureaucracy.
- That jobsworth insists on following every regulation to the letter, no matter how impractical.