Synonyms of labor

labor 1 of 2

noun

ˈlā-bər 

1

as in job

a dull, unpleasant, or difficult piece of work

one of the labors of Hercules in classical mythology was to clean out the stables of King Augeas

Synonyms & Similar Words

• job
• headache
• effort
• burden
• bear
• killer
• beast
• chore
• drudgery
• load
• strain
• trouble
• sweat
• nuisance
• heavy lifting
• grind
• lucubration
• weight
• bother

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• setup
• breeze
• kid stuff
• duck soup
• cinch
• snap
• child's play

2

as in effort

the active use of energy in producing a result

a superhuman amount of labor must have gone into designing and building the pyramids of Egypt

Synonyms & Similar Words

• effort
• work
• pains
• sweat
• expenditure
• exertion
• energy
• trouble
• while
• toil
• drudgery
• power
• elbow grease
• strain
• muscle
• travail
• try
• endeavor
• attempt
• grind
• might
• slog
• essay
• dint
• force
• trial
• go
• pass
• puissance
• stab
• whack
• shot
• fling

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• facility
• ease
• smoothness
• fluency
• inertia
• idleness
• indolence
• inaction
• laziness
• inactivity
• dormancy
• adroitness
• quiescence
• languor

3

as in toil

very hard or unpleasant work

a political dissident forced to do six months of hard labor in the salt mines as punishment

Synonyms & Similar Words

• effort
• toil
• slavery
• sweat
• drudgery
• pains
• fatigue
• exertion
• struggle
• grind
• travail
• drudge
• job
• trouble
• donkeywork
• responsibility
• moil
• duty
• obligation
• spadework
• chore
• tedium
• treadmill
• routine

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• rest
• play
• leisure
• fun
• relaxation
• ease
• entertainment
• recreation
• decompression
• diversion
• amusement
• repose
• sport
• idleness
• inertia
• inactivity
• dormancy
• dalliance
• loafing
• inertness
• goldbricking
• lounging
• lolling
• dallying

4

as in childbirth

the act or process of giving birth to children

the mother's labor lasted for six hours

Synonyms & Similar Words

• childbirth
• pregnancy
• delivery
• childbearing
• parturition
• contraction
• travail
• pains
• accouchement
• lying-in
• confinement
• birth pang
• cesarean section
• natural childbirth
• childbed

5

as in production

something produced by physical or intellectual effort

a small, personal film that was clearly a labor of love for the director and actors

Synonyms & Similar Words

• production
• product
• work
• yield
• fruit
• output
• produce
• result
• handiwork
• resultant
• affair
• commodity
• outcome
• thing
• object
• goods
• merchandise
• entry
• development
• article
• handicraft
• effect
• wares
• offspring
• issue
• handcraft
• consequence
• aftermath
• derivative
• upshot
• outgrowth
• sequence
• corollary
• side effect
• residual
• line
• conclusion
• sequel
• by-product
• offshoot
• spin-off
• aftereffect

labor

2 of 2

verb

as in to struggle

to devote serious and sustained effort

the young lawyer labored most of the weekend over the difficult legal brief

Synonyms & Similar Words

• struggle
• work
• strive
• endeavor
• toil
• slave
• plow
• try
• sweat
• tug
• dig (away)
• hustle
• travail
• beaver (away)
• strain
• drudge
• plug
• bang away
• grub
• peg (away)
• apply (oneself)
• sweat blood
• moil
• hump
• plod
• slog
• buckle (down)
• pitch in
• exercise
• essay
• attack
• fag
• exert
• drive
• dig in
• hammer (away)
• overwork
• knuckle down
• scratch
• grind (out)
• eke out
• wade
• put out
• overexert
• trudge
• scrabble

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• break
• ease (up)
• slacken
• hang (around or out)
• rest
• let up
• idle
• loaf
• bum
• chill
• hack (around)
• lounge
• shirk
• goof (off)
• slack (off)
• relax
• repose
• veg out
• play
• unwind
• laze
• bask
• hang
• trifle
• footle
• loll
• goldbrick
• fool around
• goof (around)
• dillydally
• dally
• hang about
• dabble
• monkey (around)
• mess around
• potter (around)
• putter (around)
• doodle
• fribble

Synonym Chooser

How does the noun labor contrast with its synonyms?

Some common synonyms of labor are drudgery, grind, toil, travail, and work. While all these words mean "activity involving effort or exertion," labor applies to physical or intellectual work involving great and often strenuous exertion.

farmers demanding fair compensation for their labor

Where would drudgery be a reasonable alternative to labor?

The words drudgery and labor can be used in similar contexts, but drudgery suggests dull and irksome labor.

an editorial job with a good deal of drudgery

When is it sensible to use grind instead of labor?

The words grind and labor are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, grind implies labor exhausting to mind or body.

the grind of the assembly line

When might toil be a better fit than labor?

The synonyms toil and labor are sometimes interchangeable, but toil implies prolonged and fatiguing labor.

his lot would be years of back-breaking toil

When could travail be used to replace labor?

While in some cases nearly identical to labor, 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 labor?

Although the words work and labor have much in common, work may imply activity of body, of mind, of a machine, or of a natural force.

too tired to do any work

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of labor

Noun

Maine's largest non-profit health system voted to close Lincoln Hospital's labor and delivery unit in the rural coastal town of Damariscotta last week. — Kristin Wright, NPR, 11 Aug. 2026

Union and district leaders have pushed back against the county letter, including its characterization of the labor agreements as unaffordable. — Howard Blume, Los Angeles Times, 11 Aug. 2026

Verb

Tidwell labored through the first inning, allowing two runs and throwing 32 pitches. — Justice Delos Santos, Mercury News, 5 Aug. 2026

Prielipp, like Matthews, labored through a long first inning. — Betsy Helfand, Twin Cities, 2 Aug. 2026

Phrases Containing labor

• labor force