clock watcher
1
6.5
- noun
- /klɑk ˈwɑtʃər/
- Informal
:
mirador del reloj
- For one thing, in-house lawyers say that their colleagues from the outside often misperceive them as comfortably paid 9-to-5 clock watchers and fail to appreciate the heavy bottom-line pressures general counsel receive from above.
Examples
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The real environmental cowboys, who think of RPMs like me as a bunch of office-bound clock-watchers while they're out there up to their knees in stuff that'll make their urine glow in the dark if they're not careful with it.
Fiction book (1999) -
He's forced her into the role of a nag, a clock watcher, a truly boring person.
Fiction book (2000) -
- I had a clock watcher.
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MAN: I said, "You're a clock watcher?"
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MAN: You're a clock watcher?
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McClung is not your typical clock-watcher.
Blog text (15) -
He was often criticized as a clock watcher because he would leave precisely at five every day.
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As a manager, she discouraged clock watchers and encouraged her team to focus on their projects instead of the time.
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When the deadline was approaching, Jake was called a clock watcher for his constant checking of the time.
Synonyms
A person who does only the minimum at work and changes their views to please new leaders
How Disengaged
- Offensive
33
4.6
1
8.0
- Informal
1
6.5
- Offensive
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly built from the parts: a 'clock watcher' is literally someone who watches the clock. A B1 learner who knows 'clock' and 'watcher' can readily infer a person frequently checking the time and thus likely eager to leave or not fully engaged; this compounding pattern is straightforward and cross-linguistically familiar.
Etymology
Clock watcher may come from the simple image of an employee staring at the wall clock, watching the minutes until the workday ends. That's why it means someone 'more interested in leaving on time' than in doing their job.