thankless

American  

[thangk-lis] / ˈθæŋk lɪs /

adjective

1. not likely to be appreciated or rewarded; unappreciated.

   a thankless job.

   Synonyms:

   profitless, unrewarding, vain, unacknowledged

2. not feeling or expressing gratitude or appreciation; ungrateful.

   a thankless child.

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thankless British  

/ ˈθæŋklɪs /

adjective

1. receiving no thanks or appreciation

   a thankless job

2. ungrateful

   a thankless pupil

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Other Word Forms

• thanklessly adverb
• thanklessness noun

Etymology

Origin of thankless

First recorded in 1530–40; thank + -less

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

How sharper than a serpent’s tooth it is to have a thankless audience.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 22, 2026

Being an executor is often a lonely, time-consuming and thankless task.

From MarketWatch • Nov. 18, 2025

Neither of ABT’s two hardworking casts, with leading couples framed by male and female ensembles, made their dramatically opaque and intermittently acrobatic work look more than thankless.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 3, 2025

She reckons it was a thankless task - important, but frankly, a bit dull.

From BBC • Oct. 11, 2025

Now I know why: It is a thankless task, but tomatoes are the least of it.

From "Ella Enchanted" by Gail Carson Levine

Related Words

• fruitless
• futile
• unpleasant