grunt work
Work (especially that which is heavy, repetitive or mindless) that is considered undesirable and therefore delegated to underlings.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
“I hate doing the grunt work at the office.”
“New employees usually handle the grunt work in the kitchen.”
“You do the grunt work while I talk to the customers.”
“The intern spent the entire afternoon doing grunt work like filing papers and organizing old files.”
“Before we can start the creative part of the project, we need to finish the grunt work of cleaning the data.”
“He spent his first week at the construction site doing the grunt work of carrying heavy bricks.”
“The lead researcher spent months designing the study, but she hired three students to handle the grunt work of labeling thousands of photos for the experiment.”
“While the senior partners focused on high-level strategy, the junior associates were left to handle the tedious grunt work required to prepare the case for trial.”
Derived from the verb grunt, which imitates the short, guttural sound of physical exertion. The compound appears in the mid-20th century to designate labour that is repetitive, menial, and perhaps best suited to those capable of making such noises.
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busy work
Work or activity performed with the intention or result of occupying time, and not necessarily to accomplish something productive; routine work of low priority undertaken for the sake of avoiding idleness.
- 02
close enough for government work
Adequate; acceptable as government work, imperfect but not worth the time nor effort of improving.
- 03
crazy enough to work
Acknowledging that an idea, plan, or strategy seems foolish, implausible, or risky, yet might succeed precisely because of its unconventional or unexpected nature.
- 04
detective work
investigative research
- 05
dirty work
One or more unpleasant tasks, assignments, or employment duties, especially those of a disreputable or illicit nature.
- 06
do the work
To take part in social justice activism; to fight against racism, oppression, etc.
- 07
don't call me sir, I work for a living
Used by senior enlisted military personnel to indicate that they are not commissioned officers.
- 08
donkey work
Work that is difficult, boring, and routine.
Last updated August 10, 2026