Synonyms of toil

toil 1 of 3

noun (1)

ˈtȯi(-ə)l 

as in labor

very hard or unpleasant work

after years of toil in a sweatshop, Kim was finally able to start her own dressmaking business

Synonyms & Similar Words

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

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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

toil

2 of 3

noun (2)

as in tangle

usually toils plural something that catches and holds

a married woman hopelessly caught in the toils of an extramarital affair

Synonyms & Similar Words

• tangle
• trap
• web
• entanglement
• quicksand
• morass
• quagmire
• labyrinth
• net
• snare
• noose
• maze
• tanglement
• mesh(es)
• snarl
• knot
• cobweb
• cat's cradle
• spiderweb

toil

3 of 3

verb

as in to labor

to devote serious and sustained effort

toiled for many years on the mammoth outdoor sculpture

Synonyms & Similar Words

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

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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

Synonym Chooser

How does the noun toil contrast with its synonyms?

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

his lot would be years of back-breaking toil

When would drudgery be a good substitute for toil?

Although the words drudgery and toil have much in common, drudgery suggests dull and irksome labor.

an editorial job with a good deal of drudgery

When might grind be a better fit than toil?

The words grind and toil can be used in similar contexts, but grind implies labor exhausting to mind or body.

the grind of the assembly line

Where would labor be a reasonable alternative to toil?

The words labor and toil are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, labor applies to physical or intellectual work involving great and often strenuous exertion.

farmers demanding fair compensation for their labor

When could travail be used to replace toil?

While the synonyms travail and toil are close in meaning, travail is bookish for labor involving pain or suffering.

years of travail were lost when the house burned

When is it sensible to use work instead of toil?

The meanings of work and toil largely overlap; however, work may imply activity of body, of mind, of a machine, or of a natural force.

too tired to do any work

How does the noun toil contrast with its synonyms?

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

his lot would be years of back-breaking toil

When would drudgery be a good substitute for toil?

Although the words drudgery and toil have much in common, drudgery suggests dull and irksome labor.

an editorial job with a good deal of drudgery

When might grind be a better fit than toil?

The words grind and toil can be used in similar contexts, but grind implies labor exhausting to mind or body.

the grind of the assembly line

Where would labor be a reasonable alternative to toil?

The words labor and toil are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, labor applies to physical or intellectual work involving great and often strenuous exertion.

farmers demanding fair compensation for their labor

When could travail be used to replace toil?

While the synonyms travail and toil are close in meaning, travail is bookish for labor involving pain or suffering.

years of travail were lost when the house burned

When is it sensible to use work instead of toil?

The meanings of work and toil largely overlap; however, work may imply activity of body, of mind, of a machine, or of a natural force.

too tired to do any work

How does the noun toil contrast with its synonyms?

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

his lot would be years of back-breaking toil

When would drudgery be a good substitute for toil?

Although the words drudgery and toil have much in common, drudgery suggests dull and irksome labor.

an editorial job with a good deal of drudgery

When might grind be a better fit than toil?

The words grind and toil can be used in similar contexts, but grind implies labor exhausting to mind or body.

the grind of the assembly line

Where would labor be a reasonable alternative to toil?

The words labor and toil are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, labor applies to physical or intellectual work involving great and often strenuous exertion.

farmers demanding fair compensation for their labor

When could travail be used to replace toil?

While the synonyms travail and toil are close in meaning, travail is bookish for labor involving pain or suffering.

years of travail were lost when the house burned

When is it sensible to use work instead of toil?

The meanings of work and toil largely overlap; 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 toil

Noun

The conceit of narrating a year in one’s life through the toils and sensations of the kitchen is one that many have taken up before. —Hannah Goldfield, New Yorker, 9 Feb. 2026

Later in the season, after the Bridgerton sons playfully throw shaving foam at each other, a maid is shown scrubbing the floor, the furniture, and the walls, their fun and folly now her toil. —Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 30 Jan. 2026

Verb

Medieval monks toiling away at poetic meditations on the divine have their place, the authors allow, but their own arguments are meant to surpass mere abstract justifications for belief. —Elizabeth Bruenig, The Atlantic, 26 Mar. 2026

Chavez was positioned as the Christlike figure who toiled for all of us at great personal cost and thus was anointed the face of the farmworkers movement. —Gustavo Arellano, Los Angeles Times, 19 Mar. 2026