emotional labor
Americannoun
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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.
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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.
Etymology
Origin of emotional labor
First recorded in 1980–85
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.
It’s more emotional labor for you, with little actual payback.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 22, 2026
With “Beef,” Lee links the potential liabilities women face by locking into long-term relationships to the realities of the capitalist trap, which draws women into not only unpaid housework but uncompensated emotional labor, too.
From Salon • Apr. 23, 2026
The emotional labor of sorting through a loved one’s possessions and, especially, their paperwork is easy to overlook.
From MarketWatch • Jan. 27, 2026
After focusing so much emotional labor into “Submarine,” Zardoya was under the impression that sharing it with the world might help her move on.
From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 29, 2024
She could not determine whether she was checked by fear or him, or by inertia—by dislike of the emotional labor of the "scenes" which would be involved in asserting independence.
From Main Street by Lewis, Sinclair
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
