menial

Meanings

1. 1adjectivebefore a noundisapproving

   Describing work that is dull, simple and needs no special skill, and that people tend to regard as low in status.

   Grammar: Almost always placed before a noun: a menial job, menial tasks.

   Patterns

   • menial work
   • a menial job

   He started in a menial job washing dishes at a diner.

   The interns were tired of doing menial tasks like sorting mail.

   She refused to see any honest work as menial.

2. 2nouncountableold-fashionedoffensive

   A servant or worker who does humble, unskilled jobs, especially in older usage.

   Grammar: Old-fashioned and can sound rude if used about real people.

   In the novel, the menials slept in the cellar of the great house.

   The historian wrote about how menials were treated in the palace.

Word forms

Common combinations

menial job

His first job was a menial job in a warehouse.

menial tasks

The manager gave her menial tasks all week.

menial labor

Many migrants do menial labor for low pay.

menial work

She did menial work to pay for her studies.

menial chores

The children grumbled about their menial chores.

Synonyms and how they differ

lowly

Lowly describes low rank or status, while menial describes the dull, simple nature of the work itself.

routine

Routine just means regular and repeated, without menial's suggestion of low status.

unskilled

Unskilled is a neutral description of the training needed, whereas menial adds a negative judgment.

humble

Humble can be positive and modest, but menial more strongly suggests that the work is looked down on.

Opposites

Word family

menially adverb

in a servile or lowly way, rare

menial noun

a servant who does lowly work

menialness noun

the quality of being lowly work, rare

Commonly confused: menial or minimal?

Practice

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