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travail

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verb

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

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 travail
Noun
The receivership situation was first reported by Crain's Detroit, which has also chronicled Holtzman's financial travails. Jc Reindl, Freep.com, 22 Aug. 2025 Entirely outside the symbolic order, nature goes about its business, taking no notice of our seemingly momentous upheavals, our dumb travails. Michael Robbins, Harpers Magazine, 20 Aug. 2025
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 See All Example Sentences for travail
Recent Examples of Synonyms for travail
Noun
  • Brown, 36, has filed portions of his April deposition in the civil court matter as part of his new request that the judge strike the housekeeper’s claims for intentional infliction of emotional distress and punitive damages from her lawsuit.
    Nancy Dillon, Rolling Stone, 21 Oct. 2025
  • Is an internalized fear of risk causing internal distress?
    USA TODAY, USA Today, 21 Oct. 2025
Noun
  • However, energy analysts point to the high costs of setting up in a new remote environment in harsh weather without local infrastructure, labor, or equipment.
    Jordan Blum, Fortune, 22 Oct. 2025
  • In the years that followed, the city lost its labor negotiator and, later, the assistant city attorney who worked on the negotiations.
    David Clarey, jsonline.com, 21 Oct. 2025
Noun
  • How Superstitions Impact Modern Life and Pregnacy Pregnancy and childbirth are major life changes, and with that may come feelings of nervousness, excitement, even fear—and some of these feelings could present themselves as superstitions.
    Kara Nesvig, Parents, 23 Oct. 2025
  • The maternity concierge serves as a liaison, guiding expectant parents through the multifaceted stages of pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum period, alleviating anxiety and stress while assisting families in navigating the journey.
    MemorialCare Saddleback Medical Center, Oc Register, 16 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • In my experience, this is especially true in the lonely hours of the night while struggling with chronic pain.
    Joni Eareckson Tada, MSNBC Newsweek, 25 Oct. 2025
  • After an effort to create a Falls of the Ohio national park fell short in 1967, Kentucky and Indiana officials struggled to stop the falls from becoming a garbage dump.
    Leo Bertucci, Louisville Courier Journal, 25 Oct. 2025
Noun
  • The wife ushers the two frightened boys behind her, and watches on helplessly as her husband screams in agony and terror, thrashing his arms and legs.
    Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 20 Oct. 2025
  • Please, more of Isabella lightly teasing Marty about his tendency to flagellate himself while considering the agony of the human condition.
    Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 17 Oct. 2025
Noun
  • Smaller efforts popped up in Greenland over the years, but nothing came to fruition.
    Jordan Blum, Fortune, 22 Oct. 2025
  • Supporting the Army’s next phase The M-SHORAD Increment 4 effort is a major part of the Army’s broader modernization strategy.
    Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 21 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • Sweet Vincent, written and directed by Ciara Boniface, centers a professional jazz musician reconciling with an old flame during a pivotal performance, both haunted by grief and striving for connection.
    Okla Jones, Essence, 23 Oct. 2025
  • The communique said Beijing will strive to improve people’s welfare and the social security system, but did not provide details on how Beijing intends to achieve that or where the funds would come from.
    Reuters, NBC news, 23 Oct. 2025
Noun
  • Days full of anguish Thousands of miles away from the ICE detention facility in Michigan, Aurelquis Gómez visits her nephew Noah often.
    Zoe Sottile, CNN Money, 25 Oct. 2025
  • Director Josh Boone will cut to a goofy montage right after a moment when a character is supposed to be mired in anguish.
    Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 24 Oct. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Travail.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/travail. Accessed 29 Oct. 2025.

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