Definition of ONEROUS

Choose the Right Synonym for onerous

onerous, burdensome, oppressive, exacting mean imposing hardship. onerous stresses being laborious and heavy especially because distasteful. the onerous task of cleaning up the mess burdensome suggests causing mental as well as physical strain. burdensome responsibilities oppressive implies extreme harshness or severity in what is imposed. the oppressive tyranny of a police state exacting implies rigor or sternness rather than tyranny or injustice in the demands made or in the one demanding. an exacting employer

What is the Difference Between onerous, burdensome, oppressive?

Onerous, which traces back to the Latin onus, meaning "burden," has several synonyms. Like "onerous," "burdensome," "oppressive," and "exacting" all refer to something which imposes a hardship of some kind. "Onerous" stresses a sense of laboriousness and heaviness, especially because something is distasteful ("the onerous task of cleaning up the mess"). "Burdensome" suggests something which causes mental as well as physical strain ("the burdensome responsibilities of being a supervisor"). "Oppressive" implies extreme harshness or severity in what is imposed ("the oppressive tyranny of a police state"). "Exacting" suggests rigor or sternness rather than tyranny or injustice in the demands made or in the one demanding ("an exacting employer who requires great attention to detail").

Examples of onerous in a Sentence

Then everyone was asked, how fairly did you act?, from "extremely unfairly" (1) to "extremely fairly" (7). Next they watched someone else make the assignments, and judged that person's ethics. Selflessness was a virtual no-show: 87 out of 94 people opted for the easy task and gave the next guy the onerous one. — Sharon Begley, Newsweek, 23 June 2008 The first hitch occurred when the state education department took a full six months after the new law was adopted to issue 12 pages of onerous rules and regulations governing Arkansas charter schools. — Wendy Cole, Time, 10 June 2000 Environmentalism poses stark issues of survival, for humankind and for all those other tribes of creatures over which we have exercised our onerous dominion. — Marilynne Robinson, The Death of Adam, 1998 Rap tested well, but early on the promoters said they wouldn't be booking any gangsta rap, a move at least partly designed to calm security concerns during the onerous process of complying with the strict mass-gathering laws enacted in the wake of the 1969 festival. — John Milward, Rolling Stone, 11 Aug. 1994 The government imposed onerous taxes on imports. had the onerous and stressful job of notifying the families of soldiers killed in action

Recent Examples on the Web

Further Reading Gallery: The cost of coal Trump campaigned on rolling back supposedly onerous regulations on coal plants. — Megan Geuss, Ars Technica, "EPA to keep Obama-era mercury rules, but make it harder to tighten them," 26 Dec. 2018 The lawsuit sought compensation for what Greenberg’s lawyers said were onerous bailout terms that gave the government 80 percent of AIG’s equity. — BostonGlobe.com, "Wellesley company acquires majority stake in Fallon Ambulance Service," 27 Mar. 2018 The onerous terms of a $1bn loan Spotify took from TPG and Dragoneer, two investment firms, may have also played a part. — The Economist, "Direct flight to NYSESpotify opts for an unusual way of going public," 11 Jan. 2018 For many years, fertility tests were onerous and time-consuming; a woman had to go off the pill for at least two months, then slog into the clinic on a certain day of the month. — Kim Brooks, Harper's BAZAAR, "The New Frontier of Fertility Tests—for Young Women," 1 Nov. 2018 Many patients, however, find such machines onerous and doctors have long wanted another alternative to offer those who can’t find get relief with these machines. — Shari Rudavsky, Indianapolis Star, "Apnea woes? New implanted device may restore uninterrupted sleep," 27 Mar. 2018 Undoubtedly, these shin pads will be cherished by a team playing in a notoriously onerous and scrappy league. — SI.com, "Irish PFA Give Dundalk Players Surprising Gift Ahead of Their 2018 Airtricity League Campaign," 17 Jan. 2018 However, when President Trump took office, the Auto Alliance (which represents BMW Group, Fiat Chrysler, Ford, GM, Volvo, Volkswagen, Toyota, and others) began complaining that the rules were onerous and extremely costly. — Megan Geuss, Ars Technica, "Challenge to EPA’s fuel economy rollback can move ahead, court says," 24 Nov. 2018 Apple is suing it in multiple locations over onerous licensing fees, while Qualcomm has already been fined in South Korea, Taiwan, the European Union, and China for issues related to anti-competitive licensing practices. — Jacob Kastrenakes, The Verge, "Qualcomm must license patents to competing chipmakers, court rules," 6 Nov. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'onerous.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.