| Main Entry: | backbreaking |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | strenuous |
Synonyms: |
arduous, exhausting, grueling, hard, laborious, punishing, taxing, toilsome, wearisome |
| Main Entry: | arduous |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | difficult, hard to endure |
Synonyms: |
backbreaking, burdensome, exhausting, fatiguing, formidable, grueling, harsh, heavy, labored, laborious, murder, no picnic, onerous, painful, punishing, rigorous, rough, severe, strenuous, taxing, tiring, toilsome, tough, troublesome, trying, uphill |
Antonyms: |
easy, facile, motivating |
| Main Entry: | grueling |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | difficult, taxing |
Synonyms: |
arduous, backbreaking, brutal, chastening, crushing, demanding, excruciating, exhausting, fatiguing, fierce, grinding, hairy*, hard, harsh, heavy*, laborious, punishing, racking, severe, stiff, strenuous, tiring, torturous, trying |
| Notes: | grueling means characterized by physical effort to the point of exhaustion; gruesome means shockingly repellent, inspiring horror |
Antonyms: |
easy, facile |
| Main Entry: | hard |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | difficult, exhausting |
Synonyms: |
Herculean, arduous, backbreaking, bothersome, burdensome, complicated, demanding, difficile, distressing, effortful, exacting, fatiguing, formidable, grinding, hairy*, heavy*, intricate, involved, irksome, knotty, labored, laborious, mean, merciless, murder, onerous, operose, rigorous, rough, rugged, scabrous, serious, severe, slavish, sticky, strenuous, terrible, tiring, toilful, toilsome, tough, troublesome, unsparing, uphill battle, uphill, wearing, wearisome, wearying |
Antonyms: |
easy, facile, mild, simple |
| Main Entry: | Herculean |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | powerful, strong |
Synonyms: |
almighty, backbreaking, colossal, courageous, forceful, gargantuan, gigantic, hard, heroic, huge, impressive, laborious, mighty, strenuous, tough, vigorous |
| Main Entry: | laborious |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | hard, difficult |
Synonyms: |
arduous, backbreaking, burdensome, effortful, fatiguing, forced, heavy, herculean, labored, onerous, operose, ponderous, rough go, stiff, strained, strenuous, tiresome, toilsome, tough, tough job, wearing, wearisome, wicked* |
Antonyms: |
easy, effortless, facile, simple, trivial |
| Main Entry: | onerous |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | difficult; requiring hard labor |
Synonyms: |
arduous, austere, backbreaking, burdensome, crushing, cumbersome, demanding, difficult, distressing, embittering, exacting, excessive, exhausting, exigent, fatiguing, formidable, galling, grave, grinding, grueling, hard*, harsh, headache, heavy*, intolerable, irksome, laborious, merciless, oppressive, overpowering, overtaxing, painful, plodding, ponderous, pressing, responsible, rigorous, serious, severe, strenuous, taxing, tiresome, tiring, toilsome, troublesome, vexatious, weighty |
Antonyms: |
common, easy, light, trivial |
| Main Entry: | oppressive |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | overwhelming, repressive |
Synonyms: |
backbreaking, bleak, brutal, burdensome, confining, cruel, demanding, depressing, depressive, despotic, dictatorial, discouraging, disheartening, dismal, dispiriting, exacting, exigent, gloomy, grievous, grinding, harsh, headache, heavy, heavy-handed, hefty, inhuman, ironhanded, mean, onerous, overbearing, rough going, severe, somber, superincumbent, taxing, tough, troublesome, tyrannical, unjust, weighty |
Antonyms: |
calm, gentle, relieving |
| Main Entry: | toilsome |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | laborious |
Synonyms: |
arduous, backbreaking, burdensome, demanding, difficult, exhausting, hard, labored, onerous, operose, rough, strenuous, taxing, tiresome, uphill |
| Main Entry: | tough |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | difficult, laborious |
Synonyms: |
arduous, backbreaking, baffling, burdensome, demanding, effortful, exacting, exhausting, exigent, grievous, hairy*, handful, hard, heavy, intractable, intricate, irksome, knotty, labored, mean, no piece of cake, onerous, oppressive, perplexing, puzzling, resisting, severe, stiff, strenuous, taxing, thorny, toilsome, troublesome, trying, unyielding, uphill, weighty, wicked |
Antonyms: |
controllable, easy, facile |