These rather old fashioned terms were frequently used in the past to refer to the domestic help who performed their duties only when the master’s eyes were on them. It was work done to impress the master; the eye-servant or eye-server did it for show! Although we have quite a few people in our country who continue to work in this manner even today, not all standard dictionaries list the word – those that do, maintain that it is archaic or old fashioned. Some list the two as one word and others hyphenate them.
A person who pretends to work while he is being watched by his boss is said to provide eye-service. I understand the term was coined by St. Paul the Apostle, and as expected, it finds a place in the Bible: “Not with eye service, as men pleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart.” Like those who provide lip service, it is difficult to work with eye-servants who are intent on providing merely eye-service.
The new people we have hired are nothing more than eye-servants.
The eye-server always seemed to know when she was being watched.
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Know Your English 