jack-in-office

Noun

 * 1)  A self-important but minor official.
 * 2) * 1967, C. P. Snow, foreword to A Mathematician's Apology, G. H. Hardy, 1948.
 * Chapel at Trinity was compulsory. Hardy told the Dean, [...], that he could not conscientiously attend. The Dean, who must have been a jack-in-office, insisted that Hardy should write to his parents and tell them so.
 * Chapel at Trinity was compulsory. Hardy told the Dean, [...], that he could not conscientiously attend. The Dean, who must have been a jack-in-office, insisted that Hardy should write to his parents and tell them so.

Synonyms

 * , petty functionary

Hypernyms

 * ,, see also: Thesaurus:bureaucrat