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I want to describe: a job-position that is given to someone as a way to appease the person, but the position holds no real function.

Context:

He was, due to his importance to the secret project, offered an honorary ____ with disproportionally lucrative payment.

The job is given by the authority to the person as a way to basically bribe him with undeserved salary, because he won't be given any real task. The emphasis here is payment, and not power, so "figurehead" would be inappropriate.

user289661
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    Don't the terms 'honorary' and 'disproportionately lucrative' already convey the idea, even if the blank is filled with something like job or position? Aren't you really seeking a word that would convey this idea by itself, without such qualifications? – jsw29 Oct 14 '18 at 05:34
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    There are many references on this site to sinecure – WS2 Oct 14 '18 at 07:43
  • I agree with @jsw29 - the idea is already expressed in the OP's sentence, and a more likely word to fill the blank would be something like "directorship" which doesn't in itself repeat the idea of "money for nothing". – alephzero Oct 14 '18 at 09:51
  • Tempted to answer foreign ambassador but I'll bite my tongue... – pipe Oct 15 '18 at 11:26
  • Sop may be good;(as in offered a position as a sop) although it isn't valueless in terms of salary the position itself is worthless, and it's being given to keep the person happy. had it as answer, but then deleted as I saw that it doesn't fill the blank, although may be of use so adding as comment –  Oct 15 '18 at 11:41

2 Answers2

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The word you're looking for is

sinecure noun
1. A position or office that requires little or no work but provides a salary.

TFD Online.

Robusto
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    Wikipedia seems to have an article on that word explaining its origin and its uses https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinecure. – Dan Oct 14 '18 at 13:15
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You could maybe use

pencil pusher
(informal, often derogatory) One who does routine office work; someone involved mainly in paperwork.

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/pencil_pusher

stackzebra
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