drudgery

noun

drudg·​ery ˈdrəj-rē How to pronounce drudgery (audio)
ˈdrə-jə-rē
plural drudgeries
: dull, irksome, and fatiguing work : uninspiring or menial labor
the drudgery of his job
Choose the Right Synonym for drudgery

work, labor, travail, toil, drudgery, grind mean activity involving effort or exertion.

work may imply activity of body, of mind, of a machine, or of a natural force.

too tired to do any work

labor applies to physical or intellectual work involving great and often strenuous exertion.

farmers demanding fair compensation for their labor

travail is bookish for labor involving pain or suffering.

years of travail were lost when the house burned

toil implies prolonged and fatiguing labor.

his lot would be years of back-breaking toil

drudgery suggests dull and irksome labor.

an editorial job with a good deal of drudgery

grind implies labor exhausting to mind or body.

the grind of the assembly line

Examples of drudgery in a Sentence

He hated the drudgery of his job. in the “good old days” household servants led lives filled with much drudgery and little pleasure
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
This aims to save photo editors from the multi-step drudgery of editing faces. PCMAG, 12 Nov. 2024 Life itself, with all its toil, drudgery, tragedy, and pain, is weighty enough. Deborah Treisman, The New Yorker, 3 Nov. 2024 Creatives can put energy into defining campaigns, while the marketing team can do the mechanical drudgery of customizing that content for individual markets while still respecting guidelines concerning the brand’s voice, channels and images. Mark Sparrow, Forbes, 14 Oct. 2024 Phillips' novel manages to be both a gripping psychological thriller about the isolation of motherhood and an accurate account of the sheer drudgery. The Week Us, theweek, 1 Oct. 2024 See all Example Sentences for drudgery 

Word History

Etymology

see drudge entry 1

First Known Use

1550, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of drudgery was in 1550

Dictionary Entries Near drudgery

Cite this Entry

“Drudgery.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/drudgery. Accessed 30 Nov. 2024.

Kids Definition

drudgery

noun
drudg·​ery ˈdrəj-(ə-)rē How to pronounce drudgery (audio)
plural drudgeries
: hard or dull work

More from Merriam-Webster on drudgery

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