thankless
Americanadjective
-
not likely to be appreciated or rewarded; unappreciated.
a thankless job.
- Synonyms:
- profitless, unrewarding, vain, unacknowledged
-
not feeling or expressing gratitude or appreciation; ungrateful.
a thankless child.
adjective
-
receiving no thanks or appreciation
a thankless job
-
ungrateful
a thankless pupil
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of thankless
Explanation
When you do something that doesn't earn you any gratitude, you can call it thankless. Handing out parking tickets and giving unsolicited advice can both be thankless jobs. If no one says, "Thanks!" despite your hard work, your task was a thankless one. You can also describe the person who doesn't express gratitude that way—Shakespeare's King Lear famously did this by saying, "How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is to have a thankless child!"
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 all about tech. It’s thankless to own the other sectors now,” said Jay Hatfield, chief executive officer and portfolio manager at Infrastructure Capital Advisors.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 2, 2026
These are time-consuming and often thankless jobs for a friend.
From MarketWatch • Feb. 12, 2026
The only question is: Who in the world would want the thankless job?
From Salon • Dec. 14, 2025
She reckons it was a thankless task - important, but frankly, a bit dull.
From BBC • Oct. 11, 2025
We chatted about the difficult and maybe thankless job Karzai had in front of him, about the upcoming Loyajirga, and the king’s imminent return to his homeland after twenty-eight years of exile.
From "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini
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.
