Housework vs Household chores (2025)

Hi there,

What is the difference between "Housework" and "Household chores"?

I think that doing housework like cooking, basic cleaning, use the word "Housework", and for more difficult things like fixing plumbing, drilling walls, removing light bulbs, use the word "Household chores".

But I found in a textbook that it seems different from what I think in the use of these two words.
In addition, they also use the word "Homemaker".
Please help me answer this question.
Thanks!

They are all chores if you don't like doing them.

Huyen Ben Grace said:

and for more difficult things like fixing plumbing, drilling walls, removing light bulbs, use the word "Household chores".

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Not at all. Household chores are things cleaning, washing, tidying up, getting meals ready, shopping and other routine things.

Huyen Ben Grace said:

In addition, they also use the word "Homemaker".

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It's in the dictionary: homemakerhttps:/www.wordreference.com/definition/homemaker - WordReference.com Dictionary of English

Uncle Jack said:

They are all chores if you don't like doing them.

Not at all. Household chores are things cleaning, washing, tidying up, getting meals ready, shopping and other routine things.

It's in the dictionary: homemakerhttps:/www.wordreference.com/definition/homemaker - WordReference.com Dictionary of English

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Thank you!
So I can use these two words "Housework" and "Household chores"

And seems like "homemaker" is the same as "housewife".
For example:
"I have been a

/

for his family for 3 years.
He's a doctor, his wife is a

/

.
My mother is a

/

, she will know how to choose fresh food when going to the market."

'Chore' meaning "housekeeping task" is AmE only; in BrE a chore is an unpleasant duty. Ordinary housework is not chores here.

I imagine 'homemaker' to be a fairly new word; it avoids the gendered term 'housewife' and also carries the implication that there is work to be done.

entangledbank said:

'Chore' meaning "housekeeping task" is AmE only; in BrE a chore is an unpleasant duty. Ordinary housework is not chores here.

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Agreed, except that in AmE it can extend to work on a farm. It also tends to have the slightly extended meaning of "assigned task".

DonnyB said:

To me, "housework" and "household chores" are virtually synonymous, the main difference being that "chores" implies they're things that most people dislike having to do.

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Thanks a lot!!!

So, I can say:
"My family usually shares the housework duties. My mother cooks meals, my father does the heavy works, my sister takes out the rubbish and does the laundry. I wash up after dinner."

"The household chores that my father gave me to complete this morning is cleaning the warehouse and two toilets. I really don't like that."

entangledbank said:

'Chore' meaning "housekeeping task" is AmE only; in BrE a chore is an unpleasant duty. Ordinary housework is not chores here.

I imagine 'homemaker' to be a fairly new word; it avoids the gendered term 'housewife' and also carries the implication that there is work to be done.

Click to expand...

Hulalessar said:

Agreed, except that in AmE it can extend to work on a farm. It also tends to have the slightly extended meaning of "assigned task".

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Thanks for helping me better understand.

entangledbank said:

I imagine 'homemaker' to be a fairly new word

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I recall seeing it in AmE writing from at least as long ago as the mid-twentieth century. I definitely associated the word with AmE, although it might well be used now in Britain as a replacement for "housewife". I cannot imagine using it myself.

On the other hand "chores" seems quite an ordinary word to me for housework and shopping, and I had no idea it was American in origin.

"My family usually shares the housework duties. My mother cooks meals, my father does the heavy works, my sister takes out the rubbish and does the laundry. I wash up after dinner."

Leave out "duties". You cannot include "heavy work" (not works) because "housework" only refers to routine tasks. It does not cover "odd jobs" like repairing things or putting up shelves, or moving heavy items.

"The household chores (that) my father gave me to complete this morning

are cleaning the warehouse and two toilets."

"Household" is not appropriate as it does not cover a warehouse.

Hulalessar said:

"My family usually shares the housework duties. My mother cooks meals, my father does the heavy works, my sister takes out the rubbish and does the laundry. I wash up after dinner."

Leave out "duties". You cannot include "heavy work" (not works) because "housework" only refers to routine tasks. It does not cover "odd jobs" like repairing things or putting up shelves, or moving heavy items.

"The household chores (that) my father gave me to complete this morning

is

are cleaning the warehouse and two toilets."

"Household" is not appropriate as it does not cover a warehouse.

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"My family usually shares the housework. My parents cook meals and clean the floor, my sister takes out the rubbish and does the laundry. I wash up after dinner."

"The Household chores (that) my father gave me to complete this morning are cleaning the shed and two toilets."

Huyen Ben Grace said:

"I have been a

homemaker

/

housewife

for his family for 3 years.

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This one doesn't work. Neither word means an employee.
For what it's worth:
homemaker | Search Online Etymology Dictionary

also home-maker, "woman considered as a domestic agent," by 1861, American English, from home (n.) + agent noun from make (v.).

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Myridon said:

This one doesn't work. Neither word means an employee.
For what it's worth:
homemaker | Search Online Etymology Dictionary

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I have been working as a maid in his house for 3 years.
Thank you!

Hermione Golightly said:

I'm sure it's a typo, but there's no reason to capitalize 'household'.
Shed sounds more appropriate than warehouse. A shed is a small structure often in wood outside the main house.

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"The household chores (that) my father gave me to complete this morning are cleaning the shed and two toilets."
Thank you

I don't think I have ever heard anyone use the word "chore".

In the context of work in a house or on a farm, it sounds like something from a nineteenth-century novel. It would include milking the cows and cleaning out the barn. My grandparents did that sort of thing, but I don't think they said "chores".

I use the word 'chore' all the time, and so do other people I know who were raised in New England.
Chores are tasks you do regularly to keep your household operating reasonably well: not just sweeping and washing the kitchen floor and paying bills, but also cleaning the leaves out of the gutters, something that gets done only in the fall.

I definitely remember 'homemaker' as a "nicer" word for 'housewife' in the 50s. Homemakers were depicted in magazines of the time with impossibly tiny waists and wearing cute shirtwaist dresses and high heels as they deftly vacuumed a rug.

In the sentence "I have been a

/

for his family ... " people used to use "housekeeper." I don't know if they still do.

Roxxxannne said:

I use the word 'chore' all the time, and so do other people I know who were raised in New England.
Chores are tasks you do regularly to keep your household operating reasonably well: not just sweeping and washing the kitchen floor and paying bills, but also cleaning the leaves out of the gutters, something that gets done only in the fall.

I definitely remember 'homemaker' as a "nicer" word for 'housewife' in the 50s. Homemakers were depicted in magazines of the time with impossibly tiny waists and wearing cute shirtwaist dresses and high heels as they deftly vacuumed a rug.

In the sentence "I have been a

homemaker

/

housewife

for his family ... " people used to use "housekeeper." I don't know if they still do.

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I would love to use "homemaker" from now. The woman will be more beautiful with this word.

I used to be the manager of a boutique hotel 3 years ago and I remember we use this word "housekeeper" to talk about the people who do the cleaning at the hotel "housekeeping job".

Anyway, thanks to all the native English speakers here, I was able to add quite a bit of interesting knowledge.
!