Synonyms of travail

travail 1 of 2

noun

trə-ˈvāl 

1

as in distress

a state of great suffering of body or mind

no greater travail than that of parents who have suffered the death of a child

Synonyms & Similar Words

• distress
• agony
• anguish
• pain
• misery
• discomfort
• tribulation
• torment
• torture
• woe
• excruciation
• sorrow
• hurt
• pang
• rack
• hardship
• affliction
• sadness
• heartbreak
• difficulty
• strait(s)
• trouble
• ache
• emergency
• danger
• heartache
• crucible
• unhappiness
• cross
• trial
• joylessness
• jeopardy
• stitch
• soreness
• rigor
• pinch
• throe
• twinge
• smarting
• asperity

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• comfort
• relief
• consolation
• solace
• alleviation
• ease
• security
• peace
• assuagement
• well-being

2

as in labor

very hard or unpleasant work

these villagers now have decent housing, so our travail has not been in vain

Synonyms & Similar Words

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

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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

3

as in childbirth

the act or process of giving birth to children

a midwife assisted her throughout her long travail

Synonyms & Similar Words

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

travail

2 of 2

verb

trə-ˈvāl 

as in to labor

to devote serious and sustained effort

Labor Day is the day on which we recognize those men and women who daily travail with little appreciation or compensation

Synonyms & Similar Words

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

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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

Synonym Chooser

How does the noun travail contrast with its synonyms?

Some common synonyms of travail are drudgery, grind, labor, toil, and work. While all these words mean "activity involving effort or exertion," travail is bookish for labor involving pain or suffering.

years of travail were lost when the house burned

In what contexts can drudgery take the place of travail?

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

an editorial job with a good deal of drudgery

When would grind be a good substitute for travail?

Although the words grind and travail have much in common, grind implies labor exhausting to mind or body.

the grind of the assembly line

When is it sensible to use labor instead of travail?

While in some cases nearly identical to travail, labor applies to physical or intellectual work involving great and often strenuous exertion.

farmers demanding fair compensation for their labor

When could toil be used to replace travail?

The meanings of toil and travail largely overlap; however, toil implies prolonged and fatiguing labor.

his lot would be years of back-breaking toil

When might work be a better fit than travail?

The words work and travail are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, 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 travail

Noun

My beloved barn jacket dates back to 19th-century France—referred to as a chore coat or bleu de travail—where it was worn among farmers and laborers who relied on its tough, moleskin fabric to get them through fieldwork. — Jessica Sulima, Condé Nast Traveler, 16 Aug. 2026

That’s partly thanks to Holland, a smart, sensitive actor who, inside a stretchy suit or not, takes his character’s emotional travails just seriously enough. — Stephanie Zacharek, Time, 28 July 2026

Verb

Zhong Shanshan, founder and chairman of beverage giant Nongfu Spring, has reclaimed his crown as China’s richest person amid a turnaround of his business and family travails at top rival Hangzhou Wahaha Group. — Yue Wang, Forbes.com, 23 July 2025

For Zegler, making her British stage debut, Evita must seem like a haven of sorts after her travails with the controversy that grew around Snow White, where her casting was subject to racist attacks on social media about her Colombian heritage. — Sarah Crompton, Vogue, 16 June 2025

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