grueling

adjective

gru·​el·​ing ˈgrü-ə-liŋ 

variants or gruelling

: trying or taxing to the point of exhaustion : punishing

a grueling race

a grueling schedule

gruelingly

ˈgrü-ə-liŋ-lē 

adverb

Synonyms of grueling

• difficult
• challenging
• tough
• rigorous
• demanding
• hard
• formidable

Examples of grueling in a Sentence

running a marathon is grueling

cutting diamonds can be grueling work

Recent Examples on the Web

Musk—who filed the lawsuit alleging that OpenAI under its current leadership has abandoned its nonprofit mission to build AI that benefits humanity and instead serves to enrich people like Altman—spent three grueling days on the stand. —Ashley Belanger, ArsTechnica, 13 May 2026

Last Friday, dozens of people urged lawmakers to retain two majority-Black districts during a grueling nine-hour hearing that featured civil rights activists and the only four Black congressmen elected to represent the state since the end of the Reconstruction era. —ABC News, 12 May 2026

Coming off of a grueling final season at UConn, the Wings are easing Fudd into her new role. —Emily Adams, Hartford Courant, 11 May 2026

Lomax, after becoming chairman of the department of English, retaliates, assigning Stoner grueling teaching schedules and relegating him to teaching repetitive freshman composition and sophomore survey courses. —Encyclopedia Britannica, 8 May 2026

Word History

Etymology

from present participle of obsolete gruel to exhaust, punish, from gruel, noun

First Known Use

1852, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for grueling

• refueling

Kids Definition

grueling

adjective

gru·​el·​ing

variants or gruelling

ˈgrü-ə-liŋ 

: requiring extreme effort : exhausting