a thankless task

См. также в других словарях:

• Thankless — Thank less, a. 1. Not acknowledging favors; not expressing thankfulness; unthankful; ungrateful. [1913 Webster] That she may feel How sharper than a serpent s tooth it is To have a thankless child! Shak. [1913 Webster] 2. Not obtaining or… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

• thankless — adjective 1 a thankless job is difficult and you do not get any praise for doing it: a thankless task: Cooking for the family every day is a thankless task. 2 literary a thankless person is not grateful: a thankless child thanklessly adverb …   Longman dictionary of contemporary English

• task — noun ADJECTIVE ▪ awesome, challenging, daunting, enormous, formidable, great, Herculean, huge, mammoth (esp. BrE), massive …   Collocations dictionary

• task — task1 W1S2 [ta:sk US tæsk] n [Date: 1200 1300; : Old North French; Origin: tasque, from Medieval Latin tasca tax or service to be done for a ruler , from taxare to tax ] 1.) a piece of work that must be done, especially one that is difficult or… …   Dictionary of contemporary English

• thankless — thank|less [ˈθæŋkləs] adj [Date: 1500 1600; Origin: thank (noun); THANKS2] 1.) a thankless job is difficult and you do not get any praise for doing it thankless task/job/chore etc ▪ Cooking every day is a thankless task. 2.) literary a thankless… …   Dictionary of contemporary English

• task — noun (C) 1 a piece of work that must be done, especially one that is difficult or unpleasant or that must be done regularly (+ of): He was given the task of stacking the chairs in the auditorium. | the grim task of identifying the dead | daily… …   Longman dictionary of contemporary English

• thankless — [[t]θæ̱ŋkləs[/t]] ADJ GRADED: usu ADJ n If you describe a job or task as thankless, you mean that it is hard work and brings very few rewards. Soccer referees have a thankless task …   English dictionary

• thankless — thank|less [ θæŋkləs ] adjective 1. ) a thankless activity is unpleasant, and other people are not grateful to you for doing it: a thankless task 2. ) MAINLY LITERARY a thankless person is not grateful: a thankless child …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

• thankless — adjective Date: 15th century 1. not likely to obtain thanks ; unappreciated < a thankless task > 2. not expressing or feeling gratitude ; ungrateful < how sharper than a serpent s tooth it is to have a thankless child Shakespeare > • thanklessly… …   New Collegiate Dictionary

• thankless — adjective 1) a thankless task Syn: unenviable, difficult, unpleasant, unrewarding; unappreciated, unrecognized, unacknowledged Ant: rewarding 2) her thankless children Syn …   Thesaurus of popular words

• thankless — ► ADJECTIVE 1) (of a job or task) unpleasant and unlikely to gain the appreciation of others. 2) not showing or feeling gratitude …   English terms dictionary