Meanings
plural button pushers
- idiomaticSomeone who pushes someone else's buttons: someone who goads, annoys, provokes, etc.
Near-synonyms: gadfly, goader, provocateur, provoker
1 more example
When you're dealing with Tom, you need to keep in mind that he can be a button pusher sometimes. Stay cool, and don't reinforce that behavior.
Synonyms: gadfly, goader, provocateur, provoker
- derogatorymildlyoftenbusinessA low-skilled or unskilled worker: someone from whom one can expect little or nothing more than rote pushing of buttons (not showing, for example, critical thinking, insight, or leadership).
Bill has been working here for 4 years and is looking for ways to upskill. He says he doesn't want to be a button pusher forever.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounSomeone who pushes someone else's buttons: someone who goads, annoys, provokes, etc.
Origin
In the provoker sense, by a metaphor in which the recipient's emotions can be manipulated on command as if prompted by literal control buttons. Thus also tangentially comparable with a puppet master who is pulling the strings to manipulate puppets.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
button pusher. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/button%20pusher
“button pusher.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/button%20pusher. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “button pusher,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/button%20pusher.
Source: button pusher on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.