Dictionary

cushy number en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˌkʊʃi ˈnʌmbɚ/ (General-American)
• (Southern-England) audio
• /ˌkʊʃi ˈnʌmbə/ (Received-Pronunciation)

Etymology

From cushy (“making few demands, comfortable, easy”) + number (“activity, assignment, job”).

Meanings

1. (UK, informal) A job or task that is easy to do; a position that requires little work or is undemanding; a sinecure.
   • Few professions’ pay have aroused such incredulous ire as train drivers: earning an average of nearly £70,000 a year, going on strike to demand more, and they don’t even have to steer. But if it really is such a cushy number, why doesn’t Britain have enough drivers – and what does it take to join their ranks? 2025 May 11, Gwyn Topham, “‘It’s an illogical job’: Why driving a train isn’t as cushy as it might seem”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:
   • The band’s ascent is exciting and bewildering – until it isn’t. When Nirvana ends, he turns down a cushy number playing drums for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers to record Foo Fighters’ terrific debut album in a makeshift home studio, playing every instrument himself. 2021 October 17, Kitty Empire, “The Storyteller by Dave Grohl – a Foo Fighter pulls his punches”, in The Observer, →ISSN:
   • And they knew who the winners were: those refugees on the other side of the city; the next-door neighbour who’d got a cushy number on benefits. 2019 August 6, Aditya Chakrabortty, “The super-rich have made Britain into a nation of losers”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:
   • At this rate Wednesdays [PMQs] could become a cushy number for the Labour leader. 2018 May 16, John Crace, “Corbyn finds the formula to fire up the Maybot. Just ask after Brexit”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

Forms

Synonyms

soft thing · soft snap

Translations (8)

fi helppo työ (job or task that is easy to do; a position that requires little work or is undemanding) · fr boulot peinard (job or task that is easy to do; a position that requires little work or is undemanding) · pl ciepła posadka (job or task that is easy to do; a position that requires little work or is undemanding) · fi helppo homma (job or task that is easy to do; a position that requires little work or is undemanding) · fr boulot pépère (job or task that is easy to do; a position that requires little work or is undemanding) · fi helppo duuni (job or task that is easy to do; a position that requires little work or is undemanding) · fr sinécure (job or task that is easy to do; a position that requires little work or is undemanding) · fr planque (job or task that is easy to do; a position that requires little work or is undemanding)