DONKEYWORK Synonyms: 48 Similar and Opposite Words

donkeywork

noun

ˈdäŋ-kē-ˌwərk

Definition of donkeywork

as in labor

very hard or unpleasant work the donkeywork involved in setting up one's own start-up software firm

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for donkeywork

Noun

Robots were already offered up as part of China’s domestic answer to aging, labor shortages, and future care needs.

— Ruby Wang, semafor.com, 27 Oct. 2026
At the sewing line, a conventional cotton T-shirt requires eight person-minutes of direct labor across its sewing operations, according to Silana co-founder Michael Hofmannrichter.

— Jessica Binns, Vogue, 26 Oct. 2026

Definition of labor

Noun

Additionally, the workers must hand over any communications — including self-deleting texts from apps such as Signal — related to the office’s efforts to block noncitizen voting.

— Sonja Sharp, Los Angeles Times, 31 Oct. 2026
The work is part of a broader effort to understand how eVTOL aircraft can share airspace and infrastructure with conventional aircraft while meeting aviation safety requirements.

— Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 31 Oct. 2026

Definition of effort

Noun

Pressure for Britain — along with the United States, Portugal, Spain and others who profited from slavery — to pay reparations has increased in recent years as Caribbean and African nations united behind the issue.

— ABC News, ABC News, 28 Oct. 2026
The king is expected to call slavery an atrocity that stains British history, but Britain’s government opposes reparations and says an apology is not on the agenda.

— Danica Kirka, Los Angeles Times, 28 Oct. 2026

Definition of slavery

Noun

The journey from the theatrical release to The Final Cut, opening on the twenty‑fifth anniversary of the film in 2007, is akin to the struggle of historians to set the record straight.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 30 Oct. 2026
For a team that did not shy away from its Super Bowl expectations during training camp, this is the Cowboys’ chance to prove that the early season struggles were an outlier and that the plan is still in motion.

— Nick Harris, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 30 Oct. 2026

Definition of struggle

Noun

With Angel playing games, a wig probably would last maybe two or three days, because of sweat, oils and things like that, which doesn’t really work well with the glue.

— Leah Asmelash, CNN Money, 24 Oct. 2026
Betr is giving you a chance to get in on those games with promo code FOXNEWS, giving you $200 in bonus bets and four sweat-free picks to use today.

— OutKick, FOXNews.com, 24 Oct. 2026

Definition of sweat

Noun

Rodney also framed the trend as a backlash against the past decade’s grind and her own generation’s infamous tendency to work themselves to the bone.

— Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 20 Oct. 2026
Coach Kirby Smart cited his old standby, the grind of the SEC schedule.

— Michael Cunningham, AJC.com, 18 Oct. 2026

Definition of grind

Noun

Flock fights to obscure 100,000 cameras For Flock protesters, cases like the one in Florida are disturbing, since Flock appears to take great pains to obscure who owns cameras where and how large its camera network is.

— Ashley Belanger, ArsTechnica, 28 Oct. 2026
Communications obtained under the state’s public records law — first published by the Animal Welfare Institute and reported on by the Salt Lake Tribune — show Utah officials took pains to protect the farm’s privacy amid the outbreak.

— Nat Lash, ProPublica, 23 Oct. 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

See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

Style

“Donkeywork.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/donkeywork. Accessed 1 Nov. 2026.

Copy Citation

Synonyms of donkeywork

noun

Example Sentences

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Pyrrhic

Popular in Grammar & Usage

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Popular in Wordplay

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Pwn, Skibidi, Girlboss and Other Words Added to the 2026 Scrabble Dictionary

The Words of the Week - Oct. 30

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World

Popular

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Games & Quizzes