Merriam-Webster Logo
SINCE 1828
Menu
×

An Encyclopædia Britannica Company

1

drudge

play
verb \ˈdrəj\

Definition of drudge

drudged

;

drudging
  1. intransitive verb

  2. :  to do hard, menial, or monotonous work

  3. transitive verb

  4. :  to force to do hard, menial, or monotonous work

drudger

noun

See drudge defined for kids

Indulge Your Inner Word Nerd

payday
How Often Is 'Biweekly'?
istock-refers-to-this-as-a-tumble-of-strawberries-which-sounded-pretty-nice-to-us
June 2017 Words of the Day Quiz
alt-5953d7f904965
'Patriot' Hasn't Always Been Positive
image599301899
Pretty in 'Pink'

Examples of drudge in a Sentence

  1. factory workers who must drudge all day at repetitive tasks

Origin and Etymology of drudge

Middle English druggen

drudge Synonyms

Synonyms
bang away, beaver (away), dig (away), labor, endeavor, fag, grub, hump, hustle, moil, peg (away), plod, plow, plug, slave, slog, strain, strive, struggle, sweat, toil, travail, tug, work
Related Words
apply (oneself), buckle (down), dig in, hammer (away), knuckle down, pitch in; attack, drive; essay, try; exercise, exert, overexert, overwork; eke out, grind (out), put out, scrabble, scratch; trudge, wade
Near Antonyms
break, ease (up), let up, slacken; bum, chill, dally, dillydally, footle, goldbrick, goof (off), hack (around), hang (around or out), idle, laze, loaf, lounge, shirk, slack (off), veg out; bask, loll, relax, repose, rest, unwind; dabble, doodle, fool around, fribble, goof (around), hang, hang about [British], mess around, monkey (around), play, potter (around), putter (around), trifle
2

drudge

noun

Definition of drudge

  1. 1 :  one who is obliged to do menial work

  2. 2 :  one whose work is routine and boring

  3. 3 :  menial or tedious labor

See drudge defined for English-language learners

Examples of drudge in a Sentence

  1. She was tired of working as an office drudge.

  2. worked like a drudge at a low-paying job that had few benefits

First Known Use of drudge

15th century

drudge Synonyms

Synonyms
dogsbody [chiefly British], drone, slave, drudger, fag, foot soldier, grub, grubber, grunt, laborer, peon, plugger, slavey, slogger, toiler, worker
Antonyms
fun, play
Related Words
workhorse; coolie, serf
Near Antonyms
goldbrick, shirker; drone, idler, lazybones, loafer, slouch, slug, sluggard

DRUDGE Defined for English Language Learners

drudge

noun

Definition of drudge for English Language Learners

  • : a person who does boring, difficult, or unpleasant work

DRUDGE Defined for Kids

drudge

play
noun \ˈdrəj\

Definition of drudge for Students

  1. :  a person who does hard or dull work

Learn More about drudge

  1. See words that rhyme with drudge Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for drudge Spanish Central: Translation of drudge Nglish: Translation of drudge for Spanish speakers

Seen and Heard

What made you want to look up drudge? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).

show hide

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

WORD OF THE DAY

tristful

play

sad or melancholy

Get Word of the Day daily email!

TRENDING NOW

  1. bona fide Made in good faith

  2. surrogate mother From TMZ to the dictionary.

  3. zealot A fanatical partisan

  4. stonewall to be uncooperative, obstructive, or evasive

  5. scurrilous Containing obscenities, abuse, or slander

SEE ALL

BROWSE DICTIONARY

drudge

WORD GAMES

Take a 3-minute break and test your skills!

  • istock-refers-to-this-as-a-tumble-of-strawberries-which-sounded-pretty-nice-to-us
  • Which is a synonym of garner?
Spell It

Can you spell these 10 commonly misspelled words?

TAKE THE QUIZ
Word Winder's CrossWinder

Test Your Knowledge - and learn some interesting things along the way.

TAKE THE QUIZ

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Words at Play

alt-5953d7f904965
'Patriot' Hasn't Always Been Positive

The word has roots in a religious rivalry

alt-5949565fc7d94
'Negging' Moves Beyond The Bar

Not just for pick-up artists anymore

alt-5947fc40f1b5c
In Tech, What Does 'K' Mean?

A buzzword with a long history.

alt-5951697e1a410
When To Use 'Specious' vs. 'Spurious'

These similar words are not interchangeable

Ask the Editors

payday
How Often Is 'Biweekly'?

Don't get us started on 'bimonthly'

decimate-video
Is it wrong to use 'decimate' to mean 'destroy'?

Language changes

video-irregardless-grammar-peeve-blend-of-the-synonyms-irrespective-and-regardless
Irregardless

It is in fact a real word (but that doesn't mean you should use it).

video-moose-goose-weird-plurals
Weird Plurals

One goose, two geese. One moose, two... moose. What's up with that?

Word Games

istock-refers-to-this-as-a-tumble-of-strawberries-which-sounded-pretty-nice-to-us
June 2017 Words of the Day Quiz

Summer's first WOTD quiz.

Take the quiz
alt-5941ad7527c3c
Yearbook Superlatives Quiz

Is that your picture under "Largest Vocabulary"?

Take the quiz
Spell It
Spell It

Can you spell these 10 commonly misspelled words?

Take the quiz
Word Winder's CrossWinder
Word Winder's CrossWinder

A game of winding words.

Play the game
Examples: drudge in a Sentence