"shitwork" meaning in English

See shitwork in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

Etymology: From shit + work. Etymology templates: {{compound|en|shit|work}} shit + work Head templates: {{en-noun|-}} shitwork (uncountable)
  1. (derogatory) Work of low status or yielding little satisfaction. Tags: derogatory, uncountable Synonyms: gruntwork [pejorative], bitchwork [pejorative] Related terms: blocking and tackling Translations (work of low status or satisfaction): paskaduuni (Finnish), hanttihomma (Finnish), Scheißarbeit [feminine, pejorative, vulgar] (German), Scheissarbeit (note: Liechtenstein spelling) [Switzerland, feminine] (German)
{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "shit",
        "3": "work"
      },
      "expansion": "shit + work",
      "name": "compound"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From shit + work.",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "-"
      },
      "expansion": "shitwork (uncountable)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
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          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Entries with translation boxes",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
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        {
          "kind": "other",
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        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Finnish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with German translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1987, James Ellroy, The Black Dahlia, page 276:",
          "text": "Now it was real detective shitwork.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1991, Ben Hamper, Rivethead: Tales from the Assembly Line:",
          "text": "GM paid us a tidy income and we did the shitwork. No one was holding a gun to anyone's head.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2000, David McCumber, The Cowboy Way: Seasons of a Montana Ranch, page 88:",
          "text": "Mop again. Check the drop again. Clean the floor again. Fill the manger again. Shitwork.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2005, Linda Barnes, Coyote, page 111:",
          "text": "I'm not into chasing some poor OTM wants to come in here and earn food money doing the kind of shitwork native-born Americans won't do.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2006, Katarzyna Marciniak, Alienhood: citizenship, exile, and the logic of difference, page 53:",
          "text": "He's a Chicano. He's an American citizen but he comes from a Mexican family. That's why he has to do the same shitwork we do.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2011, David Zimmerman, The Sandbox:",
          "text": "Basically, he does the shitwork. As scrawny as he is, Ahmed can heft a good bit of weight and always seems to be busy even when he's not doing anything, a skill I'd like to learn.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Work of low status or yielding little satisfaction."
      ],
      "id": "en-shitwork-en-noun-YtSVVczU",
      "links": [
        [
          "derogatory",
          "derogatory"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(derogatory) Work of low status or yielding little satisfaction."
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "word": "blocking and tackling"
        }
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "tags": [
            "pejorative"
          ],
          "word": "gruntwork"
        },
        {
          "tags": [
            "pejorative"
          ],
          "word": "bitchwork"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "derogatory",
        "uncountable"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "work of low status or satisfaction",
          "word": "paskaduuni"
        },
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "work of low status or satisfaction",
          "word": "hanttihomma"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "work of low status or satisfaction",
          "tags": [
            "feminine",
            "pejorative",
            "vulgar"
          ],
          "word": "Scheißarbeit"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "note": "Liechtenstein spelling",
          "sense": "work of low status or satisfaction",
          "tags": [
            "Switzerland",
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "Scheissarbeit"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "shitwork"
}
{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "shit",
        "3": "work"
      },
      "expansion": "shit + work",
      "name": "compound"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From shit + work.",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "-"
      },
      "expansion": "shitwork (uncountable)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "blocking and tackling"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English compound terms",
        "English derogatory terms",
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English lemmas",
        "English nouns",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English uncountable nouns",
        "Entries with translation boxes",
        "Pages with 1 entry",
        "Pages with entries",
        "Terms with Finnish translations",
        "Terms with German translations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1987, James Ellroy, The Black Dahlia, page 276:",
          "text": "Now it was real detective shitwork.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1991, Ben Hamper, Rivethead: Tales from the Assembly Line:",
          "text": "GM paid us a tidy income and we did the shitwork. No one was holding a gun to anyone's head.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2000, David McCumber, The Cowboy Way: Seasons of a Montana Ranch, page 88:",
          "text": "Mop again. Check the drop again. Clean the floor again. Fill the manger again. Shitwork.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2005, Linda Barnes, Coyote, page 111:",
          "text": "I'm not into chasing some poor OTM wants to come in here and earn food money doing the kind of shitwork native-born Americans won't do.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2006, Katarzyna Marciniak, Alienhood: citizenship, exile, and the logic of difference, page 53:",
          "text": "He's a Chicano. He's an American citizen but he comes from a Mexican family. That's why he has to do the same shitwork we do.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2011, David Zimmerman, The Sandbox:",
          "text": "Basically, he does the shitwork. As scrawny as he is, Ahmed can heft a good bit of weight and always seems to be busy even when he's not doing anything, a skill I'd like to learn.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Work of low status or yielding little satisfaction."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "derogatory",
          "derogatory"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(derogatory) Work of low status or yielding little satisfaction."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "derogatory",
        "uncountable"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "tags": [
        "pejorative"
      ],
      "word": "gruntwork"
    },
    {
      "tags": [
        "pejorative"
      ],
      "word": "bitchwork"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "work of low status or satisfaction",
      "word": "paskaduuni"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "work of low status or satisfaction",
      "word": "hanttihomma"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "work of low status or satisfaction",
      "tags": [
        "feminine",
        "pejorative",
        "vulgar"
      ],
      "word": "Scheißarbeit"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "note": "Liechtenstein spelling",
      "sense": "work of low status or satisfaction",
      "tags": [
        "Switzerland",
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "Scheissarbeit"
    }
  ],
  "word": "shitwork"
}

Download raw JSONL data for shitwork meaning in English (2.9kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-12-15 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-12-04 using wiktextract (8a39820 and 4401a4c). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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