emotional labor

[ ih-moh-shuh-nl ley-ber ]

noun
  1. the sum of small acts performed by one person to make other people’s lives more pleasant and to protect them from negativity, including hiding the effort required to do so.

  2. the suppression of negative emotion and the assumption of a polite and cheerful facade at work, especially by employees in the service industry, as waitstaff, flight attendants, sales clerks, etc.

Origin of emotional labor

1
First recorded in 1980–85

Words Nearby emotional labor

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use emotional labor in a sentence