Synonyms of drudgery

drudgery

noun

ˈdrəj-rē 

as in labor

very hard or unpleasant work

in the "good old days" household servants led lives filled with much drudgery and little pleasure

Synonyms & Similar Words

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

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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

Synonym Chooser

How does the noun drudgery contrast with its synonyms?

Some common synonyms of drudgery are grind, labor, toil, travail, and work. While all these words mean "activity involving effort or exertion," drudgery suggests dull and irksome labor.

an editorial job with a good deal of drudgery

When might grind be a better fit than drudgery?

The synonyms grind and drudgery are sometimes interchangeable, but grind implies labor exhausting to mind or body.

the grind of the assembly line

When is it sensible to use labor instead of drudgery?

While the synonyms labor and drudgery are close in meaning, labor applies to physical or intellectual work involving great and often strenuous exertion.

farmers demanding fair compensation for their labor

Where would toil be a reasonable alternative to drudgery?

Although the words toil and drudgery have much in common, toil implies prolonged and fatiguing labor.

his lot would be years of back-breaking toil

In what contexts can travail take the place of drudgery?

The words travail and drudgery can be used in similar contexts, but 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 drudgery?

In some situations, the words work and drudgery are roughly equivalent. However, 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 drudgery

Tech bosses have been keen to promote a vision where AI automates the drudgery of work, cutting out admin while allowing soft skills and creativity to flourish. —Beatrice Nolan, Fortune, 7 Aug. 2025

Andor seemed to, at last, have the power of the force on its side, engaging both the fandom and cultural critics with its stirring themes of revolution, hope, and peek inside the inner machinations (and drudgery) of a fascist regime. —Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 23 July 2025

Both grew up on farms and looked to industry to save them from the drudgery and monotony of farm work. —John Seabrook june 11, Literary Hub, 11 June 2025

And learning a poem by heart doesn’t have to be drudgery. —A.o. Scott, New York Times, 28 Apr. 2025