Meanings
chore1
plural chores
- A task, especially a regularly needed task for the upkeep of a home or similar, such as housecleaning or preparing meals.
The children were made to do their daily chores before being allowed to play games.
1 more example
Before we moved in together, my partner and I divided up the chores: he cooks and vacuums, and I do the dishes and laundry.
Synonyms: domesticity
- A task that is difficult, unpleasant, or tediously routine.
I used to enjoy being self-employed, but it's become a bit of a chore recently.
1 more example
Shorty after his nomination as Chief Justice was announced, it came to light that while on the Court, Fortas, a close friend of Johnson's, had performed a number of personal and political chores for him. This was a clear violation of the principle of separation of powers.
1978, Richard Nixon, RN: the Memoirs of Richard Nixon, Grosset & Dunlap, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, →OL, page 418
present singular third person chores · participle present choring · participle past chored · past chored
- USdatedTo do chores.
Somewhere there must be an outfit that needed a wrangler on the home place, a helper to bring in the cavy for the cowboys and chore around for the cook.
1950, Dorothy M. Johnson, Prairie Kid; in Indian Country, London: Corgi, 1961, page 49
chore2
present singular third person chores · participle present choring · participle past chored · past chored · alternative Geordie chor
chore3
plural chores
- obsoleteA choir or chorus.
On every wall, and sung where e'er I walk. I number these, as being of the chore
a. 1638 (date written), Benjamin Jonson [i.e., Ben Jonson], “Under-woods. Consisting of Divers Poems. (please specify the poem)”, in The Workes of Benjamin Jonson. The Second Volume. […] (Second Folio), London: […] Richard Meighen, published 1640, →OCLC
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA task, especially a regularly needed task for the upkeep of a home or similar, such as housecleaning or preparing meals.
More synonyms by meaning
nouna specific piece of work required to be done as a duty or for a specific fee
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
chore · noun, verb
- Proto-Indo-European*gers-“to bend, turn”
- Proto-Germanic*karzijaną“to turn”
- Old Englishċerr
- Middle Englishcharr
- Englishchore
From earlier char, from Middle English charr, charre, cherre (“odd job, turn, occasion, business”), from Old English ċerr, ċierr (“a turn”), from ċierran (“to turn”), from Proto-Germanic *karzijaną (“to turn”), from Proto-Indo-European *gers- (“to bend, turn”). Cognate with Dutch keer (“time; turn; occasion”), German Kehre (“a turn; bend; wind; back-flip; u-turn”). Also related to Saterland Frisian kiere, käire (“to turn”), Old Saxon kērian, Old High German chēran (“to turn”) (German kehren (“to turn”), Dutch keren (“to turn”)). See also char.
More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-Germanic
Full word history & related roots →chore · verb
- Romanićor“thief”
- Englishchore
Possibly derived from Romani ćor (“thief”), see also Geordie word chor.
More words from Romani
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek ἀγγαρεία
- ἀγγαρεία (angareía)a difficult, unpleasant, or routine task
Arabic عَمَلٌ رُوتِينِيّ
- عَمَلٌ رُوتِينِيّ (ʕamalun rūtīniyy)a difficult, unpleasant, or routine task
Bulgarian неприя́тна ра́бота
- неприя́тна ра́бота (neprijátna rábota)a difficult, unpleasant, or routine task
Chinese Cantonese 家務 /家务, 家事
- 家務 /家务 (gaa¹ mou⁶)a difficult, unpleasant, or routine task
- 家事 (gaa¹ si⁶)a difficult, unpleasant, or routine task
Chinese Mandarin 家務 /家务, 家事
- 家務 /家务 (jiāwù)a difficult, unpleasant, or routine task
- 家事 (jiāshì)a difficult, unpleasant, or routine task
- 苦差事 (kǔchāishi)a difficult, unpleasant, or routine task
Dutch taak
- taaka difficult, unpleasant, or routine task
Esperanto farotaĵo
- farotaĵoa difficult, unpleasant, or routine task
Finnish taloustyö, askare
- taloustyöa difficult, unpleasant, or routine task
- askarea difficult, unpleasant, or routine task
- puuhaa difficult, unpleasant, or routine task
French corvée, tâche
- corvéea difficult, unpleasant, or routine task
- tâchea difficult, unpleasant, or routine task
German leidige Aufgabe, lästige Pflicht
- leidige Aufgabea difficult, unpleasant, or routine task
- lästige Pflichta difficult, unpleasant, or routine task
- Hausarbeit (homework)a difficult, unpleasant, or routine task
- häusliche Arbeita difficult, unpleasant, or routine task
Greek αγγαρεία
- αγγαρεία (angareía)a difficult, unpleasant, or routine task
Hebrew מַטָּלָה
- מַטָּלָה (matalá)a difficult, unpleasant, or routine task
Hungarian házimunka
- házimunkaa difficult, unpleasant, or routine task
Italian corvè
- corvèa difficult, unpleasant, or routine task
Japanese 雑用, 家事
- 雑用 (zatsuyō)a difficult, unpleasant, or routine task
- 家事 (kaji)a difficult, unpleasant, or routine task
- 雑務 (zatsumu)a difficult, unpleasant, or routine task
Korean 가사, 허드렛일
- 가사 (gasa)a difficult, unpleasant, or routine task
- 허드렛일 (heodeuresil)a difficult, unpleasant, or routine task
Norwegian Bokmål hverdagsrutine, plikt
- hverdagsrutinea difficult, unpleasant, or routine task
- plikta difficult, unpleasant, or routine task
Polish zadanie, obowiązek
- zadaniea difficult, unpleasant, or routine task
- obowiązeka difficult, unpleasant, or routine task
Portuguese tarefa, porre
- tarefaa difficult, unpleasant, or routine task
- porrea difficult, unpleasant, or routine task
Romanian muncă casnică
- muncă casnicăa difficult, unpleasant, or routine task
Russian рути́нная рабо́та, дома́шняя рабо́та
- рути́нная рабо́та (rutínnaja rabóta)a difficult, unpleasant, or routine task
- дома́шняя рабо́та (domášnjaja rabóta)a difficult, unpleasant, or routine task
- неприя́тная рабо́та (neprijátnaja rabóta)a difficult, unpleasant, or routine task
- обя́занность (objázannostʹ)a difficult, unpleasant, or routine task
Spanish mandado, tarea
- mandadoa difficult, unpleasant, or routine task
- tareaa difficult, unpleasant, or routine task
- faenaa difficult, unpleasant, or routine task
Swedish (tråkigt) rutinarbete, (tråkig) rutinuppgift
- (tråkigt) rutinarbetea difficult, unpleasant, or routine task
- (tråkig) rutinuppgifta difficult, unpleasant, or routine task
Ukrainian рутинна робота, домашня робота
- рутинна робота (rutynna robota)a difficult, unpleasant, or routine task
- домашня робота (domašnja robota)a difficult, unpleasant, or routine task
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with chore
Anagrams
Cite this entry
chore. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/chore
“chore.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/chore. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “chore,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/chore.
Source: chore on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.