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Synonyms

drudgery

American  
[druhj-uh-ree] / ˈdrʌdʒ ə ri /

noun

drudgeries plural
  1. menial, distasteful, dull, or hard work.


drudgery British  
/ ˈdrʌdʒərɪ /

noun

  1. hard, menial, and monotonous work

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Usage

What are other ways to say drudgery?

Drudgery refers to menial, distasteful, or hard work. How is drudgery different from work, labor, or toil? Find out on Thesaurus.com.

Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

noun

Etymology

Origin of drudgery

First recorded in 1540–50; drudge + -ery

Explanation

If you’ve ever had to do the laundry, wash the dishes, make the meals, change the bedding, vacuum the house, and clean the bathrooms day after day, you’ve experienced drudgery. Drudgery is hard, mindless, backbreaking work. When you say the word drudgery, you can almost feel the hard, plodding work that it describes. You have to put some effort into saying the dr- sound. Then, as soon as you get through the breathy -u-, you’ve got two more hard sounds in -dg- and -er- before you get another break with the final vowel sound. Just as you might drag yourself doing those repetitive, grinding chores, you have to drag your way through pronouncing the word.

Keep Reading on Vocabulary.com

Vocabulary lists containing drudgery

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Again, then, I say, Let us sing a hallelujah and make a fresh beatitude: Blessed be Drudgery!

From Vocal Expression A Class-book of Voice Training and Interpretation by Everts, Katherine Jewell

He added with equal candour: "Drudgery great, but to an intelligent man the pickings may be considerable."

From Tommy and Grizel by Barrie, J. M. (James Matthew)

For to quiet and satisfy all scrupulous Consciences, is as great a Drudgery as it is to write in Defence of Miracles.

From A Letter to Dion by Viner, Jacob

If you will drop us a postal card, we will send you at once, absolutely free, our booklet entitled, "From Disease, Poverty and Drudgery to Health, Wealth, Power and Success."

From The Right Knock A Story by Van-Anderson, Helen

Blessed be Drudgery His first move towards being of use was when some of our children had small-pox and were put up in a half-finished room which was being built.

From Lotus Buds by Carmichael, Amy

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