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Synonyms

unskilled labor

American  

noun

  1. work that requires practically no training or experience for its adequate or competent performance.

  2. the labor force employed for such work.


Etymology

Origin of unskilled labor

First recorded in 1825–35

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.

I think anyone who’s done unskilled labor would be able to relate.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 7, 2024

It was like, "That person took my work. That person that I can point to is using these machines and child labor and unskilled labor to run them."

From Salon • Oct. 3, 2023

I accompanied her team as an embedded journalist, earning my keep with unskilled labor, much of it involving a snow shovel.

From Scientific American • Oct. 18, 2022

The aim of the early factory owners and managers was to simplify the stages of the manufacturing process so that they could be executed by cheap, unskilled labor.

From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2020

In 1950, nearly three in five black women in Montgomery, Alabama’s capital city, worked as maids for white families, and almost three-quarters of employed black men mowed lawns and did other kinds of unskilled labor.

From "Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice" by Phillip Hoose