dog's life
Miserable daily grind
A dog's life is an existence marked by misery, hardship, or mistreatment: Before the promotion, I was working eighty-hour weeks—it was a dog's life.
The phrase reflects an older view of dogs as neglected outdoor animals rather than pampered companions.
Often appears with "lead" or "live": He led a dog's life until he finally escaped that marriage.
Intense prolonged distress
- sufferingSustained experience of distress
- adversitySevere difficulty or suffering
- deprivationState of lacking necessities
- squalorDirty, degraded living conditions
privation · bleakness · ordeal · tribulation · woe · wretchedness · destitution · penury
Remaining alive against odds
- enduranceSustained effort capacity
- resilienceCapacity to recover quickly
- gritDetermination or abrasive particles
- fortitudeEnduring courage under pain
perseverance · tenacity · fight · striving · overcome · hardscrabble · clawing · day-to-day
Tiresome lack of change
- grindCrush into particles
- toilStrenuous, prolonged effort
- slogLaborious persistent effort
- tediumWearisome dullness
humdrum · labor · menial · servitude · routine · thankless · unrewarding · wearisome
Emotional distress or woe
- gloomPervasive dimness or dejection
- sorrowDeep emotional distress
- melancholySubdued, lasting sadness
- despairTotal absence of hope
dejection · anguish · hopelessness · wretchedness · forlorn · loneliness · alienation · bitterness
misery
Intense prolonged distress
- sufferingSustained experience of distress
- adversitySevere difficulty or suffering
- deprivationState of lacking necessities
squalor · privation · bleakness · ordeal · tribulation · woe · wretchedness · destitution · penury · want
survival
Remaining alive against odds
- enduranceSustained effort capacity
- resilienceCapacity to recover quickly
- gritDetermination or abrasive particles
fortitude · perseverance · tenacity · fight · striving · overcome · hardscrabble · clawing · day-to-day · hand-to-mouth
monotony
Tiresome lack of change
tedium · humdrum · labor · menial · servitude · routine · thankless · unrewarding · wearisome · plodding
unhappiness
Emotional distress or woe
- gloomPervasive dimness or dejection
- sorrowDeep emotional distress
- melancholySubdued, lasting sadness
despair · dejection · anguish · hopelessness · wretchedness · forlorn · loneliness · alienation · bitterness · dismal
dog's lifelife of Riley
Cushy, carefree existence
charmed life · the good life · easy street · bed of roses · lap of luxury
dog, dogs, dogged, doggedly, life, lives, live, lived, lively