adjective
ministerial
Involving routine administrative duties with little independent judgment.
The clerk performs ministerial duties by recording each approved application.
Etymology
The source's service role underlies this administrative sense. A ministerial duty carries out an established instruction or rule, rather than requiring an official to decide policy independently.
More examples
- Issuing the permit is a ministerial act once all requirements are met.
- Her role is ministerial: she checks forms against a fixed list.
- The law assigns him only ministerial tasks, not policy decisions.
Similar words
- clerical
- Emphasizes office paperwork rather than the absence of discretion.
- administrative
- Covers management and organization, which may require independent judgment.