1
as in difficult
requiring considerable physical or mental effort
the herculean task of grading 60 student essays over one weekend
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2
as in enormous
unusually large
a herculean banquet table that took eight men to lift it
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Recent Examples of herculean
Sherrill has the herculean task of convincing New Jersey voters to keep Democrats in power.
—
Mabinty Quarshie, The Washington Examiner, 30 Oct. 2025
The ideology was corporatist, with the startup as the platonic economic-political formation, which made startup founders herculean figures.
—Literary Hub, 15 Oct. 2025
The herculean effort to translate its gargantuan script didn’t pay off and as a result, the outlook of XSeed localizing Trails in the Sky Second Chapter (SC) and Third Chapter (TC) remained grim for years.
—George Yang, Rolling Stone, 30 Sep. 2025
That would be a herculean task.
—Brock Keeling, Oc Register, 30 Sep. 2025
But unseating Healey in Democrat and progressive Massachusetts will be a herculean task.
—Peter Lucas, Boston Herald, 6 Sep. 2025
The end result would be a chill bar night in our town in suburban Tacoma, Washington, for which Zachary felt a deep ambivalence; persuading him to attend the 10-year had already been a herculean task.
—Jordan Michelman, The Atlantic, 4 Sep. 2025
Raymond acknowledged he’s faced with a herculean task – not unlike Sisyphus rolling the boulder up the hill at Tartarus in Greek mythology.
—Rick Jervis, USA Today, 10 Aug. 2025
These are smart students who have painstakingly made their way in a herculean fashion through modern med school.
—Lance Eliot, Forbes.com, 4 Aug. 2025
Mabinty Quarshie, The Washington Examiner, 30 Oct. 2025
The ideology was corporatist, with the startup as the platonic economic-political formation, which made startup founders herculean figures.
—Literary Hub, 15 Oct. 2025
The herculean effort to translate its gargantuan script didn’t pay off and as a result, the outlook of XSeed localizing Trails in the Sky Second Chapter (SC) and Third Chapter (TC) remained grim for years.
—George Yang, Rolling Stone, 30 Sep. 2025
That would be a herculean task.
—Brock Keeling, Oc Register, 30 Sep. 2025
But unseating Healey in Democrat and progressive Massachusetts will be a herculean task.
—Peter Lucas, Boston Herald, 6 Sep. 2025
The end result would be a chill bar night in our town in suburban Tacoma, Washington, for which Zachary felt a deep ambivalence; persuading him to attend the 10-year had already been a herculean task.
—Jordan Michelman, The Atlantic, 4 Sep. 2025
Raymond acknowledged he’s faced with a herculean task – not unlike Sisyphus rolling the boulder up the hill at Tartarus in Greek mythology.
—Rick Jervis, USA Today, 10 Aug. 2025
These are smart students who have painstakingly made their way in a herculean fashion through modern med school.
—Lance Eliot, Forbes.com, 4 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for herculean
Adjective
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Jens generally chooses his words carefully, and is, what’s more, particularly reticent just after finishing a long and difficult winter delivery trip; what’s a person supposed to do with words in a blizzard anyway, up on a stormy heath and all directions lost?—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
10 Nov. 2025
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In his first start in the wake of Beau Pribula’s significant injury, Zollers walked into a difficult situation, and his stat line reflected it.—
Maddie Hartley,
Kansas City Star,
9 Nov. 2025
Adjective
-
Danielewski is a writer of enormous power and vision.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
6 Nov. 2025
-
Some of this, of course, is related to fires in California and hurricanes in the southeast that destroyed an enormous amount of utility infrastructure.—
Tom Rogers,
MSNBC Newsweek,
6 Nov. 2025
Adjective
-
What’s been the most challenging period for you?—
Kevin Cassidy,
HollywoodReporter,
11 Nov. 2025
-
Getting back in shape this year proved to be more challenging than expected.—
Ian Servantes,
Footwear News,
11 Nov. 2025
Adjective
-
At the center of all the glitzy havoc—her face often looming on a huge flat screen that rolls around the stage, following actors like a hulking LED stalker—is of course Chenoweth.—
Sara Holdren,
Vulture,
10 Nov. 2025
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Todd also had a huge sack in the fourth quarter.—
Gary Bedore,
Kansas City Star,
9 Nov. 2025
Adjective
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This loss had to be especially tough for the Jayhawks, considering a controversial holding call on KU changed the momentum of the game.—
Gary Bedore,
Kansas City Star,
9 Nov. 2025
-
However, their record at the Etihad makes for tough reading.—
Andy Jones,
New York Times,
9 Nov. 2025
Adjective
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As the anti-India movement in the Maldives gained momentum, China exploited the United States’ absence, rapidly expanding its regional footprint by easing the tremendous debt the island country owed China.—
MUHIB RAHMAN,
Foreign Affairs,
12 Nov. 2025
-
The lid lifters, who conduct their inspections just before crews are scheduled to pick up trash and recycling, have created some confusion because their inspections began with the city’s trash system in tremendous flux.—
David Garrick,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
11 Nov. 2025
Adjective
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As the day wears on, the crowd swells to a formidable throng.—
Rhea Mogul,
CNN Money,
9 Nov. 2025
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If host Point Loma was going to stay unbeaten and advance to the Division 1 quarterfinal with a win over Mater Dei Catholic on Friday night, Pointers head coach Ryan Price was sure his formidable defense would have a major hand in it.—
Kevin J. Farmer,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
8 Nov. 2025
Adjective
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But their collective decline from era-changing talents, who, in the case of Zverev and Medvedev, forced style changes across the tour with their combination of gigantic serves and elite movement and defense, illustrates how far Sinner and Alcaraz have pulled away.—
Charlie Eccleshare,
New York Times,
10 Nov. 2025
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Getting that pilot picked up is another gigantic win that is getting rarer and rarer.—
Senior Editor,
MSNBC Newsweek,
5 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Herculean.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/herculean. Accessed 16 Nov. 2025.
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