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donkeywork

noun

ˈdäŋ-kē-ˌwərk How to pronounce donkeywork (audio)
Definition of donkeyworknext
as in labor
very hard or unpleasant work the donkeywork involved in setting up one's own start-up software firm

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for donkeywork
  1. labor
  2. effort
  3. slavery
  4. struggle
  5. fatigue
  6. sweat
  7. grind
  8. pains
Noun
  • The college sports bill is splitting Senate Democrats; many aren’t backing it because it is not seen as labor-friendly, and labor groups like the AFL-CIO oppose it.
    — Burgess Everett, semafor.com, 22 Sep. 2026
  • But groups like the Hollywood labor guilds are celebrating the settlement news, as the staring contest between Ellison and the AGs caused paralysis in development and spending seemingly across the board at both companies.
    — Matt Donnelly, Variety, 21 Sep. 2026
Definition of labor
Noun
  • Kalin said Turkey would continue to make efforts to help resolve the tensions between Afghanistan and Pakistan through dialogue, the news agency reported.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 19 Sep. 2026
  • The state’s top law enforcement officer will not shed any light on why subpoenas were recently served on a slew of Broward County officials regarding the county’s efforts to explore cutting ties with the Broward Sheriff’s Office.
    — Rafael Olmeda, Sun Sentinel, 18 Sep. 2026
Definition of effort
Noun
  • Cora, the granddaughter of a woman kidnapped from West Africa and sold into slavery, flees her captor’s plantation, plunging her into the book’s alternate steampunk reality where she is pursued by the merciless slave catcher Ridgeway.
    — David Faris, TheWeek, 16 Sep. 2026
  • There were none available when someone should have wiped from existence a hype video that used the painful history of slavery and the Civil War as college football rivalry fodder.
    — Joe Rexrode, New York Times, 14 Sep. 2026
Definition of slavery
Noun
  • Second-half struggles The Hurricanes come out like gangbusters on offense in the first half, scoring on five of their first six drives.
    — Adam Lichtenstein, Sun Sentinel, 19 Sep. 2026
  • While Sara was working through her struggles, her mom was having her own existential crisis about what she’d be inspired to do next.
    — Hannah Sacks, PEOPLE, 18 Sep. 2026
Definition of struggle
Noun
  • But unlike actual fatigues, this is cut to drape just right in all the right places and is clean of any distressing and patches.
    — Alison Syrett Cleary, InStyle, 18 Sep. 2026
  • Beyond common cold symptoms like a cough, sore throat and runny nose, people sick with COVID-19 often have body aches, shortness of breath and difficulty breathing, headache, fatigue, fever and loss of taste and/or smell.
    — Ann Sheehan, The Conversation, 18 Sep. 2026
Definition of fatigue
Noun
  • Made from breathable bamboo viscose, the topper wicks away sweat and moisture to keep you cool throughout the night.
    — Toni Sutton, PEOPLE, 19 Sep. 2026
  • But a swirl of chaos, sweat, and tears goes into producing a runway collection, and even the most sanguine of designers can crack under the pressure.
    — Richard Brody, New Yorker, 18 Sep. 2026
Definition of sweat
Noun
  • There was never a sharp shakeout, just a steady grind higher through the winter and spring before the stock found a higher gear heading into summer.
    — Josh Brown,Sean Russo, CNBC, 17 Sep. 2026
  • By the mid-1960s, Max, tired of the daily grind, had left the concern to focus on painting and drawing.
    — News Desk, Artforum, 17 Sep. 2026
Definition of grind
Noun
  • Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman, Andy Pages, Rojas and others will still be playing through aches and pains by the time October rolls around.
    — Fabian Ardaya, New York Times, 15 Sep. 2026
  • Court filings haven't specified the nature of the new evidence; the judge and attorneys took pains not to disclose any details during a pretrial hearing on Tuesday.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 15 Sep. 2026
Definition of pains
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.

Browse Nearby Words

donkeys
donkeywork
donkeyworks
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Cite this Entry

“Donkeywork.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/donkeywork. Accessed 23 Sep. 2026.

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