drudgery

/'drʌdʤəri/

Thân thiện

The office worker endures the daily drudgery of filing paperwork.

Definition

1. Noun:
   • Hard, dull, and monotonous work: "Drudgery" refers to work that is physically or mentally demanding, tedious, and repetitive, often perceived as menial or soul-crushing.

Usage

• "Drudgery" is an uncountable noun. It describes the nature of work itself, not a single task. It is often used with verbs like "endure," "escape," or "relieve."
• It conveys a strong sense of weariness and lack of fulfillment associated with the work.

Examples

• Noun:
  • She wanted a career in art to escape the drudgery of factory work.
  • The daily drudgery of data entry left him feeling exhausted and unfulfilled.
  • Modern appliances have relieved much of the household drudgery of previous generations.

Advanced Usage

• "the daily drudgery": a common phrase emphasizing the repetitive, everyday nature of tedious work.
  • He found solace in music amid the daily drudgery of his office job.
• "a life of drudgery": describes an existence dominated by hard, monotonous labor.
  • The novel portrays a character trapped in a life of drudgery with no hope of escape.

Variants and Related Words

• Drudge (noun): a person who does hard, menial, or dull work.
  • He was treated as a mere drudge in the kitchen.
• Drudge (verb): to do hard, menial, or monotonous work.
  • She drudged away in the library for weeks to finish her thesis.
• Drudging (adjective): characterized by drudgery.
  • He was tired of his drudging routine.

Synonyms

• Toil: exhausting physical labor.
• Grind: hard, routine work (often informal).
• Slog: long, tiring work or a period of such work.
• Tedium: the state of being tedious (focuses more on the boredom than the effort).

Antonyms

• Leisure: free time for enjoyment.
• Recreation: activity done for enjoyment.
• Pleasure: a feeling of happy satisfaction and enjoyment.

Idioms and Phrases

• "The daily grind": a common idiom very similar in meaning to "the daily drudgery," referring to monotonous routine work.
  • He needed a vacation from the daily grind.
• "A slog/slog through": often used as a verb phrase meaning to work one's way through something difficult and tedious.
  • It was a real slog to get through all that paperwork.

Học thuật

Noun

1. hard monotonous routine work

Từ đồng nghĩa

• plodding
• grind
• donkeywork