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Meaning & use

travails

noun·Advancedliteraryformal

Last updated

UK/ˈtræveɪlz/
US/trəˈveɪlz/

“travails” is a form of “travail”. See that entry for the full set of meanings.

Meanings

  1. nounpluralliterary

    Long periods of painful effort or trouble that must be endured.

    Grammar: Usually plural and followed by of: the travails of the journey.

    Patterns

    • the travails of someone
    • the travails of doing something

    The book describes the travails of immigrants crossing the ocean.

    After all her travails, she finally opened her own bakery.

    The team's travails continued with another injury.

  2. nounpluralhumorous

    Specific frustrating difficulties that someone meets while trying to achieve a goal.

    Grammar: Often used humorously or lightly: the travails of parking in the city.

    Patterns

    • the travails of something
    • endure travails

    He wrote a funny column on the travails of assembling flat-pack furniture.

    The company's travails with its new software dragged on for months.

    Local fans enjoyed hearing about the club's travails in the cup.

Word forms

singulartravail

Common combinations

endure travails
The pioneers endured many travails on the trail.
the travails of travel
She joked about the travails of travel with three toddlers.
financial travails
The airline's financial travails worsened this year.
recount travails
Grandfather loved to recount his wartime travails.
weather travails
They managed to weather the travails of the first year.

Synonyms and how they differ

tribulations
Tribulations also means hardships, but it often has a moral or religious tone, while travails suggests tiring toil.
ordeals
Ordeals are single severe experiences, whereas travails are repeated or continuing struggles.
hardships
Hardships is the everyday, neutral word, and travails sounds more literary.
troubles
Troubles is general and informal, while travails stresses effort and struggle.

Opposites

easecomforts

Word family

travail noun
painful or laborious effort
travail verb
to toil or labor, a literary use
travailing adjective
struggling hard
travel noun
related by history to the idea of toilsome journeys

Commonly confused: travails or travels? travails or travel?

travails vs travels

Travels means journeys, while travails means hardships; the words sound alike but differ in meaning.

travails vs travel

Travel is the general word for going from place to place, with no sense of struggle.

Practice

What does travails mean in: Despite the travails of the journey, they arrived smiling?

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