a cog in a/the machine
disapprovinga member of a large organization whose job, although necessary, makes them feel as if they are not important:
I decided to set up my own business because I was tired of just being a cog in a machine.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
People of little importance
- be past your sell-by date idiom
- cannon fodder
- cipher
- inferior
- lightweight
- mediocrity
- minnow
- nobody
- nothing
- past
- pipsqueak
- plaything
- poor
- poor relation idiom
- pygmy
- small fry
- waste
- waste of space idiom
- waster
- worm
See more results »