definitions

toilsome

[ toil-suhm ]
/ ˈtɔɪl səm /
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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR toilsome ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

characterized by or involving toil; laborious or fatiguing.

RELATED WORDS

arduous, backbreaking, burdensome, demanding, difficult, hard, labored, onerous, operose, rough, strenuous, taxing, tiresome, uphill, exhausting

Nearby words

toiletries, toiletry, toilette, toilful, toilfully, toilsome, toilsomely, toilworn, toise, toitoi, tojo

Origin of toilsome

First recorded in 1575–85; toil1 + -some1
Related formstoil·some·ly, adverbtoil·some·ness, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for toilsome

British Dictionary definitions for toilsome

toilsome

toilful

/ (ˈtɔɪlsəm) /

adjective

laborious
Derived Formstoilsomely or toilfully, adverbtoilsomeness or toilfulness, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for toilsome

toilsome

adj.

1580s, from toil + -some (1). An earlier word was toilous (early 15c.). The opposite, toilless (c.1600) is much less common.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper