Something that society forces upon people, esp. nowadays. If you do not have a career, people automatically assume you are a lazy
good-for-nothing bum. An unnecessary thing to have, and it's a shame that so many people spend all their lives aspiring to have a career. The concept is installed into most western children from birth, as their first twenty-odd years of their life is dedicated to "education", which generally teaches people to become "clever". Being "clever" means you will have a "good" career.
The majority of humans hate their
careers, and up dying miserable. But hey, at least they paid off their
mortgage.
Also, a pretentious way of saying "job".