as in labor
very hard or unpleasant work
the donkeywork involved in setting up one's own start-up software firm
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for donkeywork
Noun
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Blockbusters have always been expensive to produce, but a pandemic and two labor strikes left studios with an even steeper climb to profitability.—
Brent Lang,
Variety,
8 July 2025 -
The truth, of course, is that while rich entrepreneurs love to pose as one-man bands, every one of them acquired their wealth with the help and labor of thousands of others.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
8 July 2025
Noun
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His comments came as national governments blocked significant merger efforts, not due to strategy, but due to politics.—
Julian Hayes II,
Forbes.com,
10 July 2025
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Those stockpiling efforts surged this year as steep — and unexpectedly expansive — tariffs came into view and during periods in which they were postponed or lessened.—
Alicia Wallace,
CNN Money,
10 July 2025
Noun
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The tragedy of slavery is also explored here, including an award-winning exhibit called Slavery and Cotton in the Shoals with work by textile artist Valerie S. Goodwin.—
Lisa Cericola,
Southern Living,
5 July 2025
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Douglass’s decision to speak on July 5, deliberately after Independence Day celebrations, symbolically underscored his argument: America’s celebration of freedom was bitterly ironic and deeply hypocritical in the context of slavery and racial oppression.—
Ed Gaskin,
Boston Herald,
4 July 2025
Noun
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Javier Hernandez, executive director of the Inland Coalition for Immigrant Justice, told The Associated Press that agents eventually arrested the Honduran man following the struggle inside the clinic that was captured on video.—
Greg Norman,
FOXNews.com,
11 July 2025
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Franklin might be the most recent honoree (beating out Curt Cignetti), but the Penn State coach’s struggles with self-editing are not specific to his dealings with Notre Dame.—
Pete Sampson,
New York Times,
11 July 2025
Noun
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Hours of service limits are meant to reduce driver fatigue.—
Matthew Adams,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
3 July 2025
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Listeriosis symptoms may include fever, muscle aches, nausea, fatigue, vomiting and diarrhea for those with a mild illness.—
Marley Malenfant,
Austin American Statesman,
3 July 2025
Noun
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Here's how sweat patterns typically change over time—and when those shifts signal something more serious.—
Lauryn Higgins,
Time,
7 July 2025
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These promotions include odds boosts, no sweat bets and more for MLB games, tennis, the WNBA, etc.—
Tyler Everett,
MSNBC Newsweek,
7 July 2025
Noun
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While other editors navigated the daily grind in a visible state of exhaustion, Wintour, with her signature bob, dark sunglasses, and famously enigmatic composure, cultivated an air of mystery and authority that few could emulate.—
Jeetendr Sehdev,
Forbes.com,
1 July 2025
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Olsen talks about how the grind of having to earn a living, the drag of figuring out home care for young kids, has worn female writers down.—
Hilton Als,
New Yorker,
30 June 2025
Noun
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Poets toil as often-anonymous individuals building some greater nest, colony, or hive that might outlast us or end up squashed and swept away unceremoniously.—
Hannah Brooks-Motl
June 2,
Literary Hub,
2 June 2025
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More than a decade of physical and mental toil has caught up with me.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
26 June 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Donkeywork.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/donkeywork. Accessed 18 Jul. 2025.
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