arduous

adjective

ar·​du·​ous ˈär-jə-wəs 

-dyu̇-, 

-jü-əs

1

a

: hard to accomplish or achieve : difficult

an arduous task

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

arduously adverb

arduousness noun

Did you know?

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.

Synonyms of arduous

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

Choose the Right Synonym for arduous

hard, difficult, arduous mean demanding great exertion or effort.

hard implies the opposite of all that is easy.

farming is hard work

difficult implies the presence of obstacles to be surmounted or puzzles to be resolved and suggests the need of skill or courage.

the difficult ascent of the mountain

arduous stresses the need of laborious and persevering exertion.

the arduous task of rebuilding

Examples of arduous in a Sentence

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

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

Recent Examples on the Web

Post-punk bands face few gauntlets as arduous as the slow song, and Landowner challenge themselves to traverse three of them. —Nina Corcoran, Pitchfork, 24 Mar. 2026

As the shivering dog was too weak to walk, the family loaded her onto a plastic sled, strapping her down with bungee cords for the arduous half-hour trek back to the house. —Seth Carnell, USA Today, 24 Mar. 2026

Since its founding, Pixar has clung to a belief that original movies are part of its mission, though that quest has grown more arduous in recent years. —ABC News, 24 Mar. 2026

Reasonover had the arduous task of replacing fan favorite Perrette, who left the show after 15 seasons in 2018. —Jim Halterman, Los Angeles Times, 24 Mar. 2026

Word History

Etymology

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

First Known Use

1549, in the meaning defined at sense 1b

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Kids Definition

arduous

adjective

ar·​du·​ous ˈärj-(ə-)wəs 

: extremely difficult : laborious

an arduous climb

arduously adverb

arduousness noun