DRUDGERY Synonyms: 48 Similar and Opposite Words

Q: How does the noun 'drudgery' contrast with its synonyms?

Some common synonyms of drudgery are grind , labor , toil , travail , and work . While all these words mean "activity involving effort or exertion," drudgery suggests dull and irksome labor. // an editorial job with a good deal of drudgery

Q: When might 'grind' be a better fit than 'drudgery'?

The synonyms grind and drudgery are sometimes interchangeable, but grind implies labor exhausting to mind or body. // the grind of the assembly line

Q: When is it sensible to use 'labor' instead of 'drudgery'?

While the synonyms labor and drudgery are close in meaning, labor applies to physical or intellectual work involving great and often strenuous exertion. // farmers demanding fair compensation for their labor

Q: Where would 'toil' be a reasonable alternative to 'drudgery'?

Although the words toil and drudgery have much in common, toil implies prolonged and fatiguing labor. // his lot would be years of back-breaking toil

Q: In what contexts can 'travail' take the place of 'drudgery'?

The words travail and drudgery can be used in similar contexts, but travail is bookish for labor involving pain or suffering. // years of travail were lost when the house burned

Q: When would 'work' be a good substitute for 'drudgery'?

In some situations, the words work and drudgery are roughly equivalent. However, work may imply activity of body, of mind, of a machine, or of a natural force. // too tired to do any work

drudgery

noun

ˈdrəj-rē

Definition of drudgery

as in labor

very hard or unpleasant work in the "good old days" household servants led lives filled with much drudgery and little pleasure

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Synonym Chooser

How does the noun drudgery contrast with its synonyms?

Some common synonyms of drudgery are grind, labor, toil, travail, and work. While all these words mean "activity involving effort or exertion," drudgery suggests dull and irksome labor.

an editorial job with a good deal of drudgery

When might grind be a better fit than drudgery?

The synonyms grind and drudgery are sometimes interchangeable, but grind implies labor exhausting to mind or body.

the grind of the assembly line

When is it sensible to use labor instead of drudgery?

While the synonyms labor and drudgery are close in meaning, labor applies to physical or intellectual work involving great and often strenuous exertion.

farmers demanding fair compensation for their labor

Where would toil be a reasonable alternative to drudgery?

Although the words toil and drudgery have much in common, toil implies prolonged and fatiguing labor.

his lot would be years of back-breaking toil

In what contexts can travail take the place of drudgery?

The words travail and drudgery can be used in similar contexts, but travail is bookish for labor involving pain or suffering.

years of travail were lost when the house burned

When would work be a good substitute for drudgery?

In some situations, the words work and drudgery are roughly equivalent. However, work may imply activity of body, of mind, of a machine, or of a natural force.

too tired to do any work

Example Sentences

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.

Recent Examples of drudgery Like its name suggests, Don’t Let Disco pieces act as talismans of joy, connection, and emotion against the drudgery of regular life. — Madeline Hirsch, InStyle, 5 Aug. 2026 In Pogacar, we are blessed with one of the most aggressive yellow jerseys in history, responsible for dragging cycling from the tactical drudgery of the 2010s. — Jacob Whitehead, New York Times, 27 July 2026 Many leaders are rightly enthusiastic about how AI can help reduce burnout, eliminate drudgery and free people up for more meaningful work. — Carrie Varoquiers, Forbes.com, 2 July 2026 Sea Rangers offer a Swiss Army knife’s dexterity, pursuing government contracts across the European Union and United Kingdom to tackle the tedium of climate compliance and the drudgery of clearing those backlogs. — Richard Morgan, Time, 29 June 2026 See All Example Sentences for drudgery

Recent Examples of Synonyms for drudgery

Noun

Tan pointed to elevated rental, labor and energy costs as pressures on restaurant profitability.

— Jenny Lee, CNBC, 9 Sep. 2026
Robots could let farmers manage the process while reducing the manual labor required.

— Jijo Malayil, Interesting Engineering, 9 Sep. 2026

Definition of labor

Noun

Clay did not respond to questions Friday about the status of efforts to recover the money or whether the department is considering legal action.

— Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 5 Sep. 2026
State law bars judges from adding items to the ballot after Tuesday, a tight deadline that could scramble Hanaway’s efforts to overturn the ruling.

— Kacen Bayless, Kansas City Star, 4 Sep. 2026

Definition of effort

Noun

Extreme mountain climbing has never looked anything but miserable from the distance of a screening room, and The Other Side delivers mightily on all that scraping, straining, gasping toil.

— Richard Lawson, HollywoodReporter, 3 Sep. 2026
The poem is about how our most worthwhile pursuits—things like art, love, and beauty—often seem to demand a measure of toil.

— Katy Waldman, New Yorker, 19 Aug. 2026

Definition of toil

Noun

What happened next changed the young United States, forcing people to question the line between law — which protected slavery — and justice, which demanded resistance to that law.

— Bethanne Patrick, Los Angeles Times, 2 Sep. 2026
But advocates say that for many Haitians in Springfield, the devices evoke the painful history of shackles worn during slavery.

— Catherine E. Shoichet, CNN Money, 2 Sep. 2026

Definition of slavery

Noun

With beads of sweat still streaking down his face, South Carolina coach Shane Beamer happily went over the checklist on his personal notepad after the Gamecocks’ 57-0 season-opening win over Kent State.

— Christopher Kamrani, New York Times, 7 Sep. 2026
From loungewear essentials like yoga pants and sweats to dressier picks like long-sleeve dresses and maxi skirts, there’s something on sale for everyone.

— Mia Huelsbeck, PEOPLE, 5 Sep. 2026

Definition of sweat

Noun

In practical terms, the study suggests a preference for agentic AI to simplify drudge work and logistics, such as narrowing choices or suggesting better options, rather than taking full control of emotionally loaded or high-complexity decisions.

— Arthur Zaczkiewicz, Footwear News, 13 Aug. 2026
Although free labor can help a candidate win, volunteers are also seen as a source of risk, best restricted to such drudge work as phone banking or door knocking.

— Charles Duhigg, New Yorker, 26 Jan. 2026

Definition of drudge

Noun

Chaos fatigue isn’t the only side dish being served with the recent rash of court orders; chaos consequences appear to be on a platter as well.

— Dana O’Neil, CNN Money, 4 Sep. 2026
West Nile symptoms A full 80% of those infected may not show symptoms, but 20% have flu-like symptoms, such as a fever with headache, body aches, joint pains, vomiting, diarrhea, rash or fatigue.

— Charlotte Observer, Charlotte Observer, 4 Sep. 2026

Definition of fatigue

Noun

Riley, who finished with 232 all-purpose yards Friday, provided the jolts early as the Blackhawks used big plays to counter the grind-it-out attack used by Streamwood.

— Rick Armstrong, Chicago Tribune, 6 Sep. 2026
Evans herself asked Starr to put her work through the grind of interpretation.

— Doreen St. Félix, New Yorker, 5 Sep. 2026

Definition of grind

Browse Nearby Words

drudgers

drudgery

drudges

See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

Style

“Drudgery.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/drudgery. Accessed 11 Sep. 2026.

Copy Citation

Synonyms of drudgery

noun

Synonym Chooser

Example Sentences

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

patina

Popular in Grammar & Usage

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

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?

Popular in Wordplay

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Back to School Vocabulary

Words from the 'Odyssey'

Ye Olde Nincompoop: Old-Fashioned Words for 'Stupid'

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

Popular

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

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Back to School Vocabulary

Games & Quizzes