drudgery

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 Simmons spent the time between minicamp and training camp toiling in Kansas City, working to hit the ground running when the drudgery of camp in St. Joseph began. Blair Kerkhoff, Kansas City Star, 2 Sep. 2025 This erudite and thought-provoking book tackles a dominant issue of the day, and indeed of the last two centuries: whether the forward march of technology promises to free humankind from want and drudgery or instead threatens to enslave and even extinguish human civilization. Foreign Affairs, 19 Aug. 2025 Tech bosses have been keen to promote a vision where AI automates the drudgery of work, cutting out admin while allowing soft skills and creativity to flourish. Beatrice Nolan, Fortune, 7 Aug. 2025 Andor seemed to, at last, have the power of the force on its side, engaging both the fandom and cultural critics with its stirring themes of revolution, hope, and peek inside the inner machinations (and drudgery) of a fascist regime. Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 23 July 2025 See All Example Sentences for drudgery
Recent Examples of Synonyms for drudgery
Noun
  • Even those who like parts of his agenda have been stumped about how to talk him out of the stuff that terrifies them — whiplash tariffs and a labor-depleting immigration crackdown.
    Rohan Goswami, semafor.com, 7 Oct. 2025
  • Without the protection of the non-statutory labor exemption, the NFL’s salary cap and other limitations on players’ earning opportunities became targets for antitrust law.
    Michael McCann, Sportico.com, 7 Oct. 2025
Noun
  • In a phone call with the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette shortly after the petition was filed, Richardson mostly declined to comment on his own health and the recall effort.
    Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 7 Oct. 2025
  • Gainwell could have forced the Steelers to give him more of the share, especially in an effort to keep Jaylen Warren healthy.
    Jake Ciely, New York Times, 7 Oct. 2025
Noun
  • The emotional toil caused by doomscrolling has been shown to cause real harm.
    ArsTechnica, ArsTechnica, 22 Sep. 2025
  • Belly’s response is meant to come off sweet, but instead is both withering and accurate, because no 10-year-old should be that familiar with the myth of Sisyphus or the curse of endless toil.
    Thomas Page, CNN Money, 18 Sep. 2025
Noun
  • Coven is one of the tighter narratives the series has mustered, with its true horror lying in the realities of slavery in the American South.
    James Mercadante, Entertainment Weekly, 1 Oct. 2025
  • While the issues roiling America today may be more nuanced than slavery, there are still stark contrasts—forces of democracy and authoritarianism that can pretty fairly be described as right and wrong.
    Miguel Sirgado, Miami Herald, 30 Sep. 2025
Noun
  • Thankfully, these pants do an excellent job of wicking sweat and precipitation with a stretchy, abrasion-resistant fabric.
    Alice Bennett, Travel + Leisure, 5 Oct. 2025
  • It’s crafted from breathable Belgian flax linen that helps regulate your body temperature and absorb sweat and moisture.
    Maggie Horton, PEOPLE, 4 Oct. 2025
Noun
  • Offload drudge work and risky tasks so humans can focus on safer, more creative work.
    Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 10 Sep. 2025
  • Jackson hoped that the exhibition would counter the misconception that medieval women were universally downtrodden drudges.
    Margaret Talbot, New Yorker, 10 July 2025
Noun
  • There was some fatigue in our performance, but the group are always so professional and so hungry to win.
    George Caulkin, New York Times, 6 Oct. 2025
  • Prolonged exposure to a heat index above 80 degrees can lead to fatigue, as previously reported by USA TODAY.
    Brandi D. Addison, jsonline.com, 3 Oct. 2025
Noun
  • And the day in, day out grind and all.
    David O'Brien, New York Times, 1 Oct. 2025
  • Advertisement All of that was just the physical grind.
    JP Mangalindan, Time, 30 Sep. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Drudgery.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/drudgery. Accessed 8 Oct. 2025.

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