nine-to-five

[nahyn-tuh-fahyv] /ˈnaɪn təˈfaɪv/

adjective, Informal.

of, pertaining to, or during the workday, especially the hours from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. when offices are characteristically open for business:

the nine-to-five grind.

of, reflecting, or exhibiting a lack of willingness to work beyond the required amount of time or with more than minimal effort:

With your nine-to-five mentality, you'll never get a promotion.

Origin

1955-60

Related forms

nine-to-fiver, noun

Examples from the web for nine-to-five

Times are tough, so stop looking for a boring nine-to-five.
Then they get to spend their time in the water instead of working some nine-to-five job.
We always talk about the nine-to-five life, the office life.
Pretty much nine-to-five type work for a few months out of the year.
For those coming directly from their nine-to-five jobs, there has been no time for dinner.
Workers may rarely be in the office, and their working hours may bear little resemblance to the traditional nine-to-five schedule.
Under such high-pressure conditions, nine-to-five schedules are rare.
It is obvious that this is not a nine-to-five job for any of you.
Many of these jobs did not fit a standard nine-to-five schedule.
Always, the lure of the nine-to-five employment will pose a threat to the retention of experienced observers.

Slang definitions & phrases for nine-to-five

adjective

Occupying the time period of a regular, salaried, probably dull office job: a nine-to-five drag of a job (1950s+)

verb

To be regularly employed, esp in an office job: even when he was nine-to-fiving (1962+)