laborious

[ luh-bawr-ee-uhs ]

adjective

1. requiring much work, exertion, or perseverance:

   a laborious undertaking.

   Synonyms: wearisome, tiresome, hard, difficult, burdensome, onerous, arduous, toilsome

2. characterized by or requiring extreme care and much attention to detail:

   laborious research.

3. characterized by or exhibiting excessive effort, dullness, and lack of spontaneity; labored: labor:

   a strained, laborious plot.

4. given to or diligent in work:

   a careful, laborious craftsman.

   Synonyms: hardworking, painstaking, sedulous, assiduous, industrious

laborious

/ ləˈbɔːrɪəs /

adjective

1. involving great exertion or long effort
2. given to working hard
3. (of literary style, etc) not fluent

Derived Forms

• laˈboriousness, noun
• laˈboriously, adverb

Other Words From

• la·bo·ri·ous·ly adverb
• la·bo·ri·ous·ness noun
• qua·si-la·bo·ri·ous adjective
• su·per·la·bo·ri·ous adjective
• su·per·la·bo·ri·ous·ness noun
• un·la·bo·ri·ous adjective
• un·la·bo·ri·ous·ness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of laborious¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English word from Latin word labōriōsus. See labor, -ious

Example Sentences

Let’s start with the more laborious approach, which broke down into cases depending on how many of the other nine people in the room were also in the top decile.

From FiveThirtyEight

Quilting—which is inherently more laborious because of the thickness of the fabric—is made easier with an extended table, high-speed straight-stitch capability, and major power.

From Popular-Science

The laborious forms and appeals process aren’t the only impediments.

From Time

It relies on laborious experimental techniques that can take months or even years.

From Singularity Hub 

Getting them to sound any more natural was a laborious manual task.

From MIT Technology Review

But through most of the 20th century, printing documents remained an expensive, laborious process.

From The Daily Beast

Depression is often a laborious uphill struggle for the sufferer and their loved ones.

From The Daily Beast

Leo Valencia, the owner of World Logistics MIA, agreed to help Lobo with the laborious task of moving the palettes of Nexcite.

From The Daily Beast

As a result, this season has often felt less like an organic narrative than a laborious calculation.

From The Daily Beast

Leather was another major theme this season, and the detail on some the garments was painstakingly laborious.

From The Daily Beast

On the following morning the Parliament met; and one of the most laborious sessions of that age commenced.

From Project Gutenberg

He was a man of great learning and eccentricity, and devoted his long life to laborious study.

From Project Gutenberg

He was a laborious writer, in which he was distinguished by his great learning and elegance of style.

From Project Gutenberg

He addicted himself to laborious studies and had an extensive knowledge of ancient and modern languages.

From Project Gutenberg

Even where conviction is obtained in such cases it is only after the most laborious and expensive processes and investigations.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• arduous
• backbreaking
• burdensome
• onerous
• strenuous
• tiresome