labor
Usage
What are other ways to say labor?
Labor particularly denotes hard manual work: backbreaking labor; arduous labor. Drudgery suggests continuous, dreary, and dispiriting work, especially of a menial or servile kind: the drudgery of household tasks. Toil suggests wearying or exhausting labor: toil that breaks down the worker's health. Work is the general word and may apply to exertion that is either easy or hard: fun work; heavy work.
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.
For them, labor was a spiritual act, function guided form, beauty lay in simplicity, and well-designed objects need never change.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 4, 2026
The renewed attention around his career comes at a time when conversations about labor, dignity, and public perception remain ongoing, particularly in industries where visibility can fluctuate dramatically.
From Salon • Apr. 4, 2026
In pursuit of aesthetic purity, these designs erase any trace of human labor or the complex mechanisms beneath the surface.
From Slate • Apr. 4, 2026
Amarnath described the labor market heading into the shock as “robustly soggy,” or sluggish for some time but not falling apart.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 4, 2026
“My father is dead, and my mother is in a labor camp in Salzburg.”
From "The Light in Hidden Places" by Sharon Cameron
From Roget's 21st Century Thesaurus, Third Edition Copyright © 2013 by the Philip Lief Group.
