Synonyms of travails

travails 1 of 2

noun

plural of travail

1

as in pains

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

• pains
• distresses
• agonies
• miseries
• anguishes
• tribulations
• woes
• torments
• tortures
• straits
• sorrows
• pangs
• discomforts
• hurts
• hardships
• afflictions
• racks
• dangers
• heartbreaks
• troubles
• heartaches
• difficulties
• excruciations
• emergencies
• aches
• trials
• rigors
• crucibles
• throes
• crosses
• asperities
• stitches
• jeopardies
• pinches
• twinges

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• consolations
• comforts
• solaces
• alleviations
• eases
• reliefs
• assuagements
• securities
• peaces
• well-beings

2

as in efforts

very hard or unpleasant work

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

Synonyms & Similar Words

• efforts
• labors
• toils
• pains
• struggles
• fatigues
• sweats
• exertions
• troubles
• drudgeries
• grinds
• slaveries
• drudges
• responsibilities
• donkeyworks
• moils
• obligations
• duties
• jobs
• chores
• spadeworks
• treadmills
• routines
• tediums

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• plays
• fun
• relaxations
• eases
• sports
• rests
• dalliances
• reposes
• amusements
• diversions
• entertainments
• recreations
• leisures
• inertias
• decompressions
• inactivities
• dormancies

3

as in childbirths

the act or process of giving birth to children

a midwife assisted her throughout her long travail

Synonyms & Similar Words

• childbirths
• pregnancies
• deliveries
• pains
• labors
• contractions
• accouchements
• parturitions
• childbearings
• birth pangs
• confinements
• cesarean sections
• natural childbirths
• childbeds
• lyings-in

travails

2 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of travail

as in struggles

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

• struggles
• labors
• strives
• works
• endeavors
• toils
• slaves
• tries
• tugs
• hustles
• plows
• sweats
• digs (away)
• humps
• strains
• grubs
• pegs (away)
• plods
• slogs
• drudges
• plugs
• bangs away
• fags
• applies (oneself)
• beavers (away)
• moils
• sweats blood
• attacks
• hammers (away)
• buckles (down)
• knuckles down
• pitches in
• exercises
• essays
• scratches
• exerts
• drives
• digs in
• ekes out
• grinds (out)
• trudges
• overworks
• wades
• overexerts
• puts out
• scrabbles

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• breaks
• eases (up)
• slackens
• lets up
• hangs (around or out)
• shirks
• slacks (off)
• dallies
• chills
• bums
• lazes
• goofs (off)
• goldbricks
• loafs
• lounges
• rests
• dillydallies
• unwinds
• hacks (around)
• plays
• reposes
• basks
• idles
• hangs
• lolls
• dabbles
• footles
• relaxes
• fools around
• hangs about
• trifles
• doodles
• fribbles
• messes around
• goofs (around)
• vegges out
• monkeys (around)
• putters (around)
• potters (around)

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of travails

Noun

In 2007, a mediator determined that despite fiscal travails, Vallejo couldn’t reduce the size of its fire department. — Jon Regardie, Los Angeles Times, 27 Oct. 2026

The enduring travails of the Shinnecock Indian Nation, landed cousins of the Montauketts in eastern Long Island, are instructive. — Jason Motlagh, Rolling Stone, 22 Oct. 2026

That’s because, despite his travails, Trump needs Wiles and almost everyone around him knows it. — Chris Whipple, Vanity Fair, 19 Oct. 2026

The comedy-drama will revisit the lives and travails of the eponymous sisters. — Stewart Clarke, Deadline, 14 Sep. 2026

What happens next at first feels like a dreadful narrative misstep, seemingly reinforcing the idea that cutting oneself off from others can save them from life’s travails. — Jay Weissberg, Variety, 7 Sep. 2026

The moment was loosely evocative of Clooney’s recent performance in Jay Kelly, a comedy-drama about the personal travails of a Clooney-esque movie star that culminates with the character receiving a lifetime honor at a swanky Italian film festival. — Chris Gardner, HollywoodReporter, 2 Sep. 2026

Given the travails of Bessent, its contents will make interesting reading. — John Cassidy, New Yorker, 24 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