dirty work

noun

1. disagreeable, often tedious tasks.
2. any illegal or dishonest dealing.

Idioms and Phrases

An unpleasant, distasteful, or thankless task or job. For example, Jane complained that she had to do all the dirty work while her colleagues took long vacations . [First half of 1900s]

Example Sentences

Trump may be a striver, but his biggest success is to get others to do his dirty work for him.

From Salon

Trump may be a striver, but his biggest success is to get others to do his dirty work for him.

From Salon

Russian state actors turned to proxies, such as private intelligence operatives, to do "their dirty work", but this impacted the professionalism of their operations and made them easier to disrupt.

From BBC

The incident prompted denunciations from rights groups who have long condemned Mexican authorities for doing what they call “America’s dirty work” by detaining U.S.-bound migrants and often transporting them back to southern Mexico.

From Los Angeles Times

“Not to place myself in the role of a victim — qué flojera — but I tend to focus on the unfairness of life and its profound sorrow, and there is definitely a lot of that going around, my brother. Every artist has a mission, and mine is singing to sadness. Somebody has to do the dirty work.”

From Los Angeles Times