laborious

If a task takes a lot of effort, time, and energy, it's laborious. Think about building a stone wall by hand, or copying an entire book by hand before printing presses existed. Those were laborious tasks. The word does not always mean something is hard because it needs special skill. It often means the work is heavy, slow, or tiring for the body or mind. Even a simple task can become laborious if you have to repeat it hundreds of times.

The word comes from "labor," meaning work, so something laborious is full of work. You might describe a long hike up a steep mountain as laborious, or the slow process of learning a new language. Sometimes even small tasks become laborious when you are tired or do not feel motivated.

The word laborious describes something that requires considerable effort, time, and persistence to accomplish. It goes beyond simply being difficult; it implies a sustained and often exhausting level of work. While a challenging problem might require high intelligence, a laborious task demands stamina and dedication.

You'd use "laborious" to describe activities like digging a ditch, sorting through mountains of paperwork, or meticulously restoring an antique piece of furniture. It's not necessarily about complexity; even repetitive tasks can be laborious if they are lengthy or physically demanding. For example: "The process of data entry was surprisingly laborious."

Historically, the word is rooted in the Latin laboriosus, referring to physical work and toil. This connection explains why laborious often evokes images of manual labor, but it is equally applicable to mental effort. A scholar might undertake a laborious research project, spending countless hours poring over ancient texts and analyzing data.

The key is that the activity isn't just hard—it feels like a lot of work. It drains your energy and requires sustained commitment. If an activity leaves you feeling exhausted and drained after completing it, chances are it was a laborious undertaking.