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Glite Dictionary
shitwork

shitwork

1 9.9
Unpleasant small jobs that no one wants to do
  • noun
  • /ʃɪtˌwɜrk/
  • Offensive
translation icon : trabajo de mierda
  • Many recent graduates are frustrated with the shitwork they have to do before landing their dream jobs.

Examples

  • He felt that handling all the shitwork in the office was unfair to the more experienced employees.

  • I keep telling myself, okay, that's just the price; you have to do your time doing shitwork before you're allowed to get to the good stuff... but if I have to catalog one more quasar...

    Fiction book (1997)

  • Despite the long hours of shitwork ahead, she remained optimistic about her future career.

Synonyms

work
vsshitwork
∞ 1.0

Effort people use to do a job or task

is a specific kind of low-status, tedious, and unrewarding activity
chore
vsshitwork
195 1.0

A small, boring job you must do at home, like washing dishes

covers similar unpleasant tasks but is not limited to required domestic duties
dirty work
vsshitwork
  • Informal
65 4.6

Unpleasant or shameful tasks that other people avoid

is similar but emphasizes low-status, menial unpleasantness rather than moral wrongdoing
drudgery
vsshitwork
13 7.0

Boring, hard work that you do again and again

is more about long, boring repetition than low-status or trivial work
grunt work
vsshitwork
  • Informal
10 5.3

Boring, simple jobs that are necessary and take a lot of time

is similar but often applies to menial tasks without heavy physical effort
busywork
vsshitwork
3 6.3

Tasks that keep you busy but have little real value

is similar but emphasizes low value rather than necessarily unpleasant or menial tasks
scut work
vsshitwork
  • Informal
3 8.1

Simple unpleasant tasks that no one wants to do

is the same idea expressed by a different label
donkeywork
vsshitwork
  • UK
7.2

A lot of hard, boring work that others avoid but must be done

is similar but often labels tasks regarded as pointless or trivial
faena
vsshitwork
  • US
9.9

A difficult or boring task someone must do

is used for tasks seen as low value and unrewarding rather than merely difficult

Surface Forms

shitwork singular
shitworks plural

Morphology

shitwork = shit + work (transparent) = shit + work

The compound combines the pejorative modifier 'shit' with 'work' to mean unpleasant or menial tasks; the meaning is directly inferable from its parts.

Etymology

Shitwork is made from the two words shit and work. In slang, shit is used to mean 'bad' or 'worthless', so shitwork describes the small, boring, or unpleasant jobs no one wants — like 'dirty work' or 'grunt work'.