LABOR Synonyms: 225 Similar and Opposite Words

Q: How does the noun 'labor' contrast with its synonyms?

Some common synonyms of labor are drudgery , grind , toil , travail , and work . While all these words mean "activity involving effort or exertion," labor applies to physical or intellectual work involving great and often strenuous exertion. // farmers demanding fair compensation for their labor

Q: Where would 'drudgery' be a reasonable alternative to 'labor'?

The words drudgery and labor can be used in similar contexts, but drudgery suggests dull and irksome labor. // an editorial job with a good deal of drudgery

Q: When is it sensible to use 'grind' instead of 'labor'?

The words grind and labor are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, grind implies labor exhausting to mind or body. // the grind of the assembly line

Q: When might 'toil' be a better fit than 'labor'?

The synonyms toil and labor are sometimes interchangeable, but toil implies prolonged and fatiguing labor. // his lot would be years of back-breaking toil

Q: When could 'travail' be used to replace 'labor'?

While in some cases nearly identical to labor , travail is bookish for labor involving pain or suffering. // years of travail were lost when the house burned

Q: When would 'work' be a good substitute for 'labor'?

Although the words work and labor have much in common, work may imply activity of body, of mind, of a machine, or of a natural force. // too tired to do any work

labor 1 of 2

noun

ˈlā-bər

Definition of labor

as in job

a dull, unpleasant, or difficult piece of work one of the labors of Hercules in classical mythology was to clean out the stables of King Augeas

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in effort

the active use of energy in producing a result a superhuman amount of labor must have gone into designing and building the pyramids of Egypt

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in toil

very hard or unpleasant work a political dissident forced to do six months of hard labor in the salt mines as punishment

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as in childbirth

the act or process of giving birth to children the mother's labor lasted for six hours

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as in production

something produced by physical or intellectual effort a small, personal film that was clearly a labor of love for the director and actors

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labor

2 of 2

verb

as in to struggle

to devote serious and sustained effort the young lawyer labored most of the weekend over the difficult legal brief

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Synonym Chooser

How does the noun labor contrast with its synonyms?

Some common synonyms of labor are drudgery, grind, toil, travail, and work. While all these words mean "activity involving effort or exertion," labor applies to physical or intellectual work involving great and often strenuous exertion.

farmers demanding fair compensation for their labor

Where would drudgery be a reasonable alternative to labor?

The words drudgery and labor can be used in similar contexts, but drudgery suggests dull and irksome labor.

an editorial job with a good deal of drudgery

When is it sensible to use grind instead of labor?

The words grind and labor are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, grind implies labor exhausting to mind or body.

the grind of the assembly line

When might toil be a better fit than labor?

The synonyms toil and labor are sometimes interchangeable, but toil implies prolonged and fatiguing labor.

his lot would be years of back-breaking toil

When could travail be used to replace labor?

While in some cases nearly identical to labor, travail is bookish for labor involving pain or suffering.

years of travail were lost when the house burned

When would work be a good substitute for labor?

Although the words work and labor have much in common, work may imply activity of body, of mind, of a machine, or of a natural force.

too tired to do any work

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of labor

Noun

But Marxists who dreamed of a workers’ republic could not compete with the reformers in Congress who enacted such measures as a progressive income tax, antitrust legislation, and a ban on child labor. — Michael Kazin, The New York Review of Books, 17 Oct. 2026 QuickBooks maps standard business transactions to common IRS categories, including advertising and promotions, car and truck, contract labor, legal and professional services and supplies. — Dana Miranda, CNBC, 17 Oct. 2026

Verb

And workers have now spent over 1 million hours laboring on an infrastructure project whose price tag has surpassed $900 million. — Robert Tann, Denver Post, 24 Sep. 2026 McNeely’s portrait of a laboring mother, swathed in glowing fields of chartreuse, outshines (again, literally) art history’s greats. — Emily Watlington, ARTnews.com, 18 Sep. 2026 See All Example Sentences for labor

Recent Examples of Synonyms for labor

Noun

The protection of American jobs justified the chains of bondage, or so the argument went.

— Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 16 Oct. 2026
Was Sarandos courting Bloys for a top job at the streamer, perhaps to take the job then held by Bajaria?

— Matt Donnelly, Variety, 16 Oct. 2026

Definition of job

Noun

The president talked up Jackson and Senate candidate Mike Collins as part of the White House effort to boost GOP enthusiasm in the upcoming elections.

— DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE STAFF FROM WIRE REPORTS, Arkansas Online, 17 Oct. 2026
Rowling has been staunchly critical of transgender rights activists, funding legal efforts to protect women’s rights and penning X/Twitter posts that are considered to be attacks by the trans community.

— Jake Kanter, Deadline, 17 Oct. 2026

Definition of effort

Noun

But in earlier myths, Al Basty was described as a hearth deity and a protector of women in childbirth.

— Yulia Denisyuk, Condé Nast Traveler, 14 Oct. 2026
Her father, a military commander, is killed by the British Army during the French Revolutionary Wars of the late 18th century, and her mother dies during childbirth.

— Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 13 Oct. 2026

Definition of childbirth

Noun

To support Constant’s production, Shopkorn approaches their relationship in a more old-school model, sending her money as a stipend instead of waiting for a sale to go through and split it 50-50 as is now the norm.

— Hikmat Mohammed, ARTnews.com, 14 Oct. 2026
Five films are directed by filmmakers from outside the Baltic countries, with Baltic talent and expertise playing significant roles in their production.

— Georg Szalai, HollywoodReporter, 14 Oct. 2026

Definition of production

Verb

Miller's attempt to recast the conversation about his divorce echoed efforts by other candidates who are struggling to overcome concerns about their character.

— Lara Korte The Washington Post, Arkansas Online, 18 Oct. 2026
But more than 40 countries currently struggling with financing and liquidity challenges do not have debt stocks that require imminent restructuring.

— Masood Ahmed, Fortune, 17 Oct. 2026

Definition of struggle

Noun

The biggest headache for Thune was the Save America Act, a voter ID bill that lacked a strategy to become law in the Senate.

— semafor.com, semafor.com, 16 Oct. 2026
In Meta’s case, creepy video-recording incidents and privacy-light tampering have caused severe headaches for the company.

— Jibin Joseph, PC Magazine, 16 Oct. 2026

Definition of headache

Noun

Chisell, who previously worked at Amazon, eBay and Starling Bank, estimates that Paysend can now deliver around 25% more engineering work with the same-sized team, but argues that getting results isn’t as simple as handing everyone the latest tech.

— Lindsay Dodgson, CNBC, 17 Oct. 2026
Making the show work within Keery’s schedule was a challenge.

— Caitlin Huston, HollywoodReporter, 17 Oct. 2026

Definition of work

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labile

labor

labor camp

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Style

“Labor.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/labor. Accessed 21 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of labor

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verb

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Synonyms of labor

noun

verb

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More from Merriam-Webster on labor

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Popular in Grammar & Usage

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Can' vs. 'May'

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Popular in Wordplay

The Longest Long Words List

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Did 'orange' the fruit or the color come first?

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