1,400 new words in our dictionary! — Parasocial, glow-up, promposal & more
1,400 new words in our dictionary! — More

toilful

adjective

Definition of toilfulnext
as in difficult

Related Words

Relevance

Dissimilar Words

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for toilful
  1. difficult
  2. formidable
  3. arduous
  4. laborious
  5. tough
  6. strenuous
  7. severe
  8. murderous
Adjective
  • Being undefeated after a trio of difficult opening matches can only be seen as a positive, even if Newcastle’s obvious shortcomings require addressing if that run is to be prolonged.
    — Chris Waugh, New York Times, 6 Sep. 2026
  • Engineers need flight data on propulsion, aerodynamics, thermal management, guidance and other subsystems under conditions that are difficult to reproduce on the ground.
    — Bojan Stojkovski, Interesting Engineering, 6 Sep. 2026
Definition of difficult
Adjective
  • Soldier Field and Wrigley Field will have formidable new competition.
    — The Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune, 6 Sep. 2026
  • Importantly, such research demonstrated the formidable risk associated with self-criticism for postpartum depression and anxiety, as well as for disruptions in mother-child communication, which might exacerbate postpartum psychopathology.
    — Torie Bosch, STAT, 5 Sep. 2026
Definition of formidable
Adjective
  • The tattoo has been arduous work for William, with setbacks and botched work taking up much of the past decade.
    — Stephen Rodrick, Rolling Stone, 11 Sep. 2026
  • Illustration by Patricia Bolaños The climb from Hell to Heaven can be long and arduous.
    — Rachel Syme, New Yorker, 11 Sep. 2026
Definition of arduous
Adjective
  • How to Clean a Fireclay Sink While fireclay sinks can be easily damaged with improper care, keeping one in pristine condition doesn’t require laborious techniques or expensive cleaning products.
    — Blythe Copeland, Martha Stewart, 10 Sep. 2026
  • Within that room unfolds the tale of the Swiss architect of the title, told in occasionally laborious ways.
    — Siddhant Adlakha, Variety, 6 Sep. 2026
Definition of laborious
Adjective
  • Because of the heat wave's dramatic effect on everyday life, Paris became a tough place to walk around in the sunshine.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 15 Sep. 2026
  • But Chipotle has been in a tough spot since Niccol departed in 2024, and even as Boatwright’s plan shows signs of momentum (same-store sales have begun to tick back up again), there are open questions about Chipotle’s strategic direction.
    — Rohan Goswami, semafor.com, 15 Sep. 2026
Definition of tough
Adjective
  • The key is to work at a strenuous pace for four minutes, recover slowly, and repeat.
    — Jakob Roze, HEALTH, 9 Sep. 2026
  • People are also urged to wear lightweight and loose-fitting clothing, to limit strenuous activities to early morning or early evening hours and to take action when experiencing heat exhaustion or heat stroke.
    — Tim Fang, CBS News, 8 Sep. 2026
Definition of strenuous
Adjective
  • Another flagger, not publicly identified, suffered severe head trauma in 2024 after he was hit by an out-of-service F train in Brooklyn.
    — Evan Simko-Bednarski, New York Daily News, 6 Sep. 2026
  • Five people were killed, three critically injured and two others hospitalized with less severe injuries, Miami-Dade County officials told a news conference.
    — Anthony Izaguirre, Chicago Tribune, 6 Sep. 2026
Definition of severe
Adjective
  • Yaga reimagines the witch, who is known to live in a hut on chicken legs and potentially is a murderous seductress or powerful enchantress, depending on the author of the tale.
    — Denise Petski, Deadline, 14 Sep. 2026
  • The women are frequently naked, and the men are either murderous or barbaric.
    — Vikram Murthi, IndieWire, 14 Sep. 2026
Definition of murderous
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

toilets
toilful
toiling
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Toilful.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/toilful. Accessed 19 Sep. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

The Exceptions of '-s' and '-es' Plurals

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Back to School Vocabulary

Words from the 'Odyssey'

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Words of the Week - Sept. 18
See More

Popular

See More

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Back to School Vocabulary
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
crayons-in-a-circle
Guess the Color Quiz Questions that use the whole box of crayons.
See All