uborka

Uborka is a Polish term for cleaning and tidying, referring to the activities involved in housekeeping such as dusting, sweeping, washing, laundry, dishwashing, and decluttering. In everyday language, uborka can denote a single cleaning session or the routine chores performed by household members. The word is informal and more colloquial than sprzątanie, the standard term used in formal writing and public discourse. Uborka may carry a sense of thoroughness or regularity and is commonly associated with home life rather than institutional cleaning.

In Poland, uborka is typically carried out by residents of the home, though some households hire cleaning services. Professional cleaning is usually described as sprzątanie domowe or usługi sprzątające; uborka is not commonly used to describe commercial cleaning jobs. When it appears in media or literature, uborka can evoke everyday domestic life with a familiar, sometimes humorous tone.

Etymology: Uborka is a native Polish word; its precise historical origin is not widely documented in major dictionaries, but it has long been part of colloquial speech relating to housework. See also sprzątanie, porządki, czystość. See also Polish language vocabulary on domestic work.