drudgery

noun

drudg·​ery ˈdrəj-rē How to pronounce drudgery (audio)
ˈdrə-jə-rē
plural drudgeries
: dull, irksome, and fatiguing work : uninspiring or menial labor
the drudgery of his job
Choose the Right Synonym for drudgery

work, labor, travail, toil, drudgery, grind mean activity involving effort or exertion.

work may imply activity of body, of mind, of a machine, or of a natural force.

too tired to do any work

labor applies to physical or intellectual work involving great and often strenuous exertion.

farmers demanding fair compensation for their labor

travail is bookish for labor involving pain or suffering.

years of travail were lost when the house burned

toil implies prolonged and fatiguing labor.

his lot would be years of back-breaking toil

drudgery suggests dull and irksome labor.

an editorial job with a good deal of drudgery

grind implies labor exhausting to mind or body.

the grind of the assembly line

Examples of drudgery in a Sentence

He hated the drudgery of his job. in the “good old days” household servants led lives filled with much drudgery and little pleasure
Recent Examples on the Web Using long, slow takes that evoke the drudgery of prison life, Dresen and Kaufmann paint a drably colored yet vivid portrait of the complex personalities who collide in Plötzensee, starting with Hilde herself. Leslie Felperin, The Hollywood Reporter, 17 Feb. 2024 Instead, most chatbots today are doing white-collar drudgery — summarizing documents, debugging code, taking notes during meetings — and helping students with their homework. Kevin Roose, New York Times, 14 Feb. 2024 Surprisingly, those floating apps were most helpful when dealing with daily drudgery. Chris Velazco, Washington Post, 12 Feb. 2024 Babies grow up to be adults, and adulthood contains loneliness, rejection, drudgery, hopelessness, regret, grief, and terror. Elizabeth Barber, Harper's Magazine, 2 Feb. 2024 With limited football resources, the Broncos have big work to do and no end to this football drudgery in sight. Mark Kiszla, The Denver Post, 7 Jan. 2024 More than relief of sheer drudgery, that AI can help research topics and fill in the proverbial blanks means less friction for a disabled person in terms of cognitive load and motor skills. Steven Aquino, Forbes, 22 Feb. 2024 While not appropriate for every situation, a little gamification can spice up the drudgery. Reece Rogers, WIRED, 9 Jan. 2024 Take your pick — domestic drudgery is a large umbrella. Zach Przystup, Baltimore Sun, 14 Feb. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'drudgery.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

see drudge entry 1

First Known Use

1550, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of drudgery was in 1550

Dictionary Entries Near drudgery

Cite this Entry

“Drudgery.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/drudgery. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

drudgery

noun
drudg·​ery ˈdrəj-(ə-)rē How to pronounce drudgery (audio)
plural drudgeries
: hard or dull work

More from Merriam-Webster on drudgery

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