menial
Other forms: menials
A menial task is anything that takes very little training, skill, or talent. Some people find it relaxing to do the menial chore of folding laundry. Go figure.
The adjective menial comes from an Old French word, mensie, which means “household.” Many chores that get labeled as menial are domestic, but other jobs outside of the home are sometimes also considered menial: stuffing envelopes, data processing, repetitive assembly line work, brain surgery (OK, that last one is not considered menial; we were just checking to see if you were awake).
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used of unskilled work (especially domestic work)
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a domestic servant
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Vocabulary lists containing menial
In this dystopian novel, America is a totalitarian theocracy in which young women are conscripted to serve the political elite.
Considered a seminal work of African-American literature, Their Eyes Were Watching God is notable for its strong and independent female protagonist.
This memoir recounts Noah's childhood in South Africa during the last years of apartheid.