honest work
Earnest gainful employment
Work that is legitimate, respectable, and fairly earned through genuine effort.
The phrase often carries modest or defensive overtones—someone describing their job as honest work may be acknowledging it lacks prestige while asserting its dignity: It's not glamorous, but it's honest work.
The expression can also be used ironically when the "work" in question is dubiously legal or ethical.
- laborStrenuous effort; also childbirth
- toilStrenuous, prolonged effort
- sweatMoisture from skin pores
- gritDetermination or abrasive particles
- paycheckCompensation for labor
dirt under nails · blue-collar · nine to five · punch the clock · calloused · dignity · bread · earned · sweat equity · grind · craft · trade · hands · daily · wage · make ends meet · put food on the table · effort
- blue collarhard hat, blue collar, blue-collar jobs, manual labor, assembly line
- Biblical Laborlabor, toil, sowing, reaping, servant
- SikhismGuru Granth Sahib, Sikh, Sikhs, Sikhism, gurdwara
honest workscam
Dishonest money-making scheme
fraud · criminal enterprise · crime · criminal activity · racketeering
honest workeasy money
Profit gained effortlessly
exploitation · rent-seeking · grifting · freeloading · mooching
honest workdirty work
Underhanded or unpleasant activity
shady business · double-dealing · cheating · bribery · kickbacks
honest, work, honesty, honestly, dishonest, dishonesty, dishonestly, works, worked