arduous

ar·du·ous

adj \ˈär-jə-wəs, -dyu̇-, -jü-əs\

Definition of ARDUOUS

1

a : hard to accomplish or achieve : difficult <years of arduous training> b : marked by great labor or effort : strenuous <a life of arduous toil — A. C. Cole>

2

: hard to climb : steep <an arduous path>

— ar·du·ous·ly adverb

— ar·du·ous·ness noun

Examples of ARDUOUS

1. He went through a long and arduous training program.
2. an arduous journey across miles of desert
3. Traveling for several days by train, stagecoach and horseback, they would reach Mariposa Grove, a stand of some 200 ancient giant sequoias, where they would rest before embarking on an arduous descent via 26 switchbacks into the valley. —Tony Perrottet, Smithsonian, July 2008
4. As yoga classes go, this is not an arduous one, but the students don't know that. —Richard Corliss, Time, 23 Apr. 2001
5. Women of middling means had the most to gain from increased consumption, for imported goods often reduced their long and arduous labor, especially in making candles and soap or in spinning and weaving cloth. —Alan Taylor, American Colonies, 2000

Origin of ARDUOUS

Latin arduus high, steep, difficult; akin to Old Irish ard high

First Known Use: 1538

Related to ARDUOUS

Synonyms: hard, Augean, backbreaking, challenging, demanding, difficult, effortful, exacting, formidable, grueling (or gruelling), heavy, hellacious, herculean, killer, laborious, moiling, murderous, pick-and-shovel, rigorous, rough, rugged, severe, stiff, strenuous, sweaty, tall, testing, toilsome, tough, uphill

Antonyms: cheap, easy, effortless, facile, light, mindless, simple, soft, undemanding

Related Words: abstract, abstruse, complex, complicated, elusive, hairy, insoluble, intricate, involved, knotty, opaque, problematic (also problematical), recondite, serious, spiny, stubborn, thorny, ticklish, tricky; bruising, burdensome, exhausting, labored, onerous, oppressive, stressful, taxing, tight, trying; annoying, bothersome, distressing, irksome, troublesome, vexatious; grievous, grim, strict, stringent; brutal, cruel, inhuman, painful

Near Antonyms: achievable, clear, doable, elementary, manageable, uncomplicated; comforting, gentle, painless, relaxed, smooth, soothing; accessible, friendly, idiotproof, user-friendly

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See Synonym Discussion at hard