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Arduous isn’t the type of word one expects to hear in a folk song—it’s a bit too formal—but strenuous work and difficult journeys are the stuff of many a classic tune. Take “The Wayfaring Stranger,” for an example, a somber song about life’s travails performed by everyone from singer and activist Paul Robeson to country star Emmylou Harris: “I know dark clouds will gather o’er me / I know my pathway’s rough and steep.” Such a lyric gets at the dual literal/figurative nature of arduous, which comes from the Latin adjective arduus, meaning “high,” “steep,” or “difficult.” For quite a while after appearing in English in the mid-1500s, arduous hewed closely to the figurative “strenuous” or “difficult” sense until poet Alexander Pope invoked steepness when he wrote of “those arduous paths they trod” in his 1711 work “An Essay on Criticism.” To pen such a work at the age of 23, and in heroic couplets no less, must have been an arduous challenge indeed, but like the wayfaring stranger seeking a brighter land, Pope had his eyes on the prize.
Examples of arduous in a Sentence
Tony Perrottet, Smithsonian, July 2008
As yoga classes go, this is not an arduous one, but the students don't know that.
—Richard Corliss, Time, 23 Apr. 2001
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
He went through a long and arduous training program.
an arduous journey across miles of desert
Steve Scauzillo, Daily News, 10 June 2026
Thune’s reservations over quickly uniting Republicans for yet another package ahead of the midterm elections come in the wake of the latest arduous undertaking.
—Ramsey Touchberry, The Washington Examiner, 9 June 2026
The process of counting mail-in ballots and validating voters' signatures is also arduous, as each envelope signature must match the signatures on file, which can lead to additional delays.
—Emily Chang, ABC News, 4 June 2026
Council members currently use a simple majority system of five or more votes to pass new laws, but a two-thirds majority rule change of the nine Council members would make selecting an acting mayor more arduous, especially given frequent Council splits on divisive issues.
—Claire Murphy, Chicago Tribune, 27 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for arduous
Cite this Entry
“Arduous.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/arduous. Accessed 18 Jun. 2026.
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arduous
adjective
