労苦|ろうくrouku[1]atamadaka (head-high)

1. noun, suru verb, intransitive verblabor; labour; toil; hardship
   私が提供ていきょうできるのは血ちと労苦ろうくと涙なみだと汗あせのみであります。↗

   I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat.

• Synonym苦労くろうNeutralThe everyday, most general word for hardship and toil, also covering worry: 「苦労をかける」. 「労苦」 is more written and often pairs with 「ねぎらう」.
• Synonym労ろうWrittenWritten/formal prose for toil or credit for work done, mostly in set phrases like 「労をねぎらう」 and 「労を惜しまない」; rarely used alone.
• Synonym辛苦しんくWrittenWritten word for hardship and bitter suffering, as in 「辛苦をなめる」; it stresses the bitterness, while 「労苦」 stresses the toil of working.
• Synonym労作ろうさくWrittenWritten word for painstaking labor or a work born of great effort, as in 「労作を発表」; in the sense of toil it overlaps with 「労苦」.
• Synonym辛労しんろうWrittenWritten word for toil, close in meaning to 「労苦」 but used far less; in daily speech people normally say 「苦労」.
• Synonym労するろうするWrittenA written verb: to toil, or to put someone to work; the negative 「労せずして」 means 'without effort'. 「労苦」 is mostly a noun.
• Related労力ろうりょくNeutralNeutral word for the labor, energy or manpower something requires, as in 「労力を省く」; it does not stress hardship, which is 「労苦」's focus.
• Related尽力じんりょくWrittenWritten word for doing one's utmost, typically to help someone else, as in 「ご尽力」; 「労苦」 refers to one's own toil.
• Related努力どりょくNeutralThe most general word for effort, stressing actively putting force into something; 「労苦」 stresses the hardship and difficulty of the work.
• Related骨折りほねおりNeutralNeutral word for the pains taken over something, also for helping out: 「骨折りに感謝する」. It has a colloquial flavor; 「労苦」 is more written.
• Related粒々辛苦りゅうりゅうしんくWrittenA written four-character compound for painstaking, bit-by-bit effort on a task; it stresses steady diligence, while 「労苦」 means toil in general.
• Related難儀なんぎCasualColloquial word for hardship or trouble, common in the Kansai dialect; it can also describe a troublesome person or task. 「労苦」 stresses the toil itself.
• Related奮励ふんれいWrittenRare written word for rousing one's spirit and striving; the emphasis is on exertion, whereas 「労苦」 stresses hardship and toil.
• Related苦くNeutralNeutral word for pain and suffering, seen in 「苦にする」 and as a Buddhist term; it stresses the suffering itself, 「労苦」 the toil of laboring.
• Relatedこつこつ働くこつこつはたらくCasualColloquial phrase for working steadily and persistently; it stresses a diligent, unremitting attitude, while 「労苦」 stresses the hardship involved.
• Antonym安楽あんらくWrittenWritten word for comfort and ease, as in 「安楽死」; it is the antonym of 「労苦」, contrasting ease with toil.
• Antonym安逸あんいつWrittenWritten word for idle ease and leisure, sometimes with a critical nuance of craving comfort; the opposite of 「労苦」.

In everyday speech say 「苦労」; 「労苦」 is the written word for toil, heard in speeches and set phrases like 「長年の労苦に報いる」, often with 「ねぎらう」. The written near-synonyms 「労」「辛苦」「辛労」「労作」 and the rare 「奮励」「粒々辛苦」 each stress a different facet—credit, bitterness, painstaking effort. For effort itself use 「努力」 or 「労力」, for helping others 「ご尽力」, and for the opposite of toil 「安楽」.

Usage comparisons are AI-assisted and cross-checked by multiple models; for study reference only

1. 心身しんしんの疲労ひろうや苦労くろうすること。骨折ほねおり。