drudgery

noun

drudg·​ery ˈdrəj-rē 

ˈdrə-jə-rē

plural drudgeries

: dull, irksome, and fatiguing work : uninspiring or menial labor

the drudgery of his job

Synonyms

• labor
• effort
• toil
• slavery
• sweat
• drudge
• fatigue
• grind
• pains

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

This isn’t a threat to be feared, but a liberation of human capital from the drudgery of the routine. —Nikhil Jathar, Forbes.com, 30 July 2025

There’s an optimistic view: that AI could free us from drudgery and elevate us toward creativity, insight, and connection. —Jason Snyder, Forbes.com, 9 July 2025

Meteorologists are now freed from computational drudgery to focus on what humans do best: interpreting model outputs, applying local knowledge, and communicating weather impacts to decision-makers. —Renny Vandewege, Forbes.com, 15 July 2025

It's meant to be a place of administrative drudgery with zero action, and yet, led by the affectionately abrasive Jackson Lamb (Oldman), Slough House and its slow horses somehow get involved in some of the most important cases of the moment. —Kelly Lawler, USA Today, 14 June 2025

Word History

Etymology

see drudge entry 1

First Known Use

1550, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

drudgery

noun

drudg·​ery ˈdrəj-(ə-)rē 

plural drudgeries

: hard or dull work