taskmaster

English

Etymology

From task +‎ master.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈtæskˌmæstɚ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

taskmaster (plural taskmasters)

1. Someone who supervises workers, especially one who imposes hard or burdensome work.
   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Exodus 3:7:

     And the Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows

2. (figuratively) A source of hard work or responsibility.
   • 2023 June 4, Charles Hugh Smith, What Happens When the Competent Opt Out?‎^[1], archived from the original on 23 November 2023:

     Everyone knows the enthusiasm is inauthentic and only for show, but artifice and inauthenticity are perfectly adequate for the politicization taskmasters. […] It all looked so easy when the competent were at the helm, but reality is a cruel taskmaster, and all the excuses that worked as an underling wear thin once the incompetent are in leadership roles.

Derived terms

• taskmasterly
• taskmastership

Translations

Supervisor

• Bulgarian: надзирател (bg) m (nadziratel)
• German: Zuchtmeister m, Antreiber m, Aufseher (de) m
• Hebrew: נוֹגֵשׂ (he) m (nogés)
• Polish: nadzorca (pl) m, nadzorczyni (pl) f