jobsworth attitude

8.8

A way of acting that follows rules strictly even when common sense says not to

noun

: actitud burocrática

Despite the emergency, his jobsworth attitude prevented him from making an exception.

Examples

Her jobsworth attitude made dealing with customer service almost impossible.
The manager's jobsworth attitude slowed down the entire project.
His jobsworth attitude frustrated everyone in the office.
Don't adopt a jobsworth attitude during the meeting!
His jobsworth attitude led him to refuse a necessary safety measure, insisting on following protocol.
The jobsworth attitude of the security guard meant that visitors had to fill out unnecessary paperwork.
Dealing with her jobsworth attitude made it hard to resolve simple issues at the event.

Synonyms

hardheadedness

vsjobsworth attitude

1 7.6

A way of acting that refuses to change your mind because of feelings or others' views

is inflexible about rules even when that choice lacks practicality

sticklerism

vsjobsworth attitude

9.9

A habit of following rules too strictly, often about grammar or accuracy

prioritises following rules even when it ignores common sense

How Strict

jobsworth attitude

8.8

by the book

Informal

55 3.9

compliant

31 5.1

to bend the rules

12 4.9

Surface Forms

jobsworth attitude singular

jobsworth attitudes plural

Morphology

jobsworth + attitude

The key element here is 'jobsworth', a British informal term for someone who rigidly enforces petty rules; its meaning is lexicalized and not compositionally derivable from 'job' or 'worth'. While 'attitude' is transparent, knowing the literal constituents does not enable a B1 learner to infer the idiomatic sense, so the phrase is opaque.

Etymology

Jobsworth attitude may come from people saying 'it's more than my job's worth' when they would not do anything extra or risky. Picture someone who follows rules exactly and will not make an exception, so the phrase means being unwilling to bend the rules and unhelpful.