donkey work

noun

Work that is difficult, boring, and routine.

“Why does everyone else get the interesting work while I have to do all the donkey work, and even the company's dirty work?”

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Meanings

noundonkey work (uncountable)

alternative donkey-work · alternative donkeywork

  1. idiomaticuncountableWork that is difficult, boring, and routine.

    Why does everyone else get the interesting work while I have to do all the donkey work, and even the company's dirty work?

    2 more examples

    Labi said she did not need to carry planks of wood on her head any more, it was donkey work for idiots

    2019, Bernardine Evaristo, Girl, Woman, Other, Penguin Books (2020), page 161

    But what looks like donkeywork is a necessary step in a formulaic approach, a set of prescribed practices that have their own embedded wisdom.

    2022, The Atlantic

Translations

Czech mravenčí práce
  • mravenčí prácehard, boring, routine work
Greek αγγαρεία
  • αγγαρεία (angareía)hard, boring, routine work
Irish sclábhaíocht
  • sclábhaíochthard, boring, routine work
Persian خرکاری
  • خرکاریhard, boring, routine work
Polish robota głupiego, czarna robota
  • robota głupiegohard, boring, routine work
  • czarna robotahard, boring, routine work
Turkish angarya
  • angaryahard, boring, routine work
Cite this entry
APA

donkey work. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/donkey%20work

MLA

“donkey work.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/donkey%20work. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “donkey work,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/donkey%20work.

Source: donkey work on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.