herculean

IPA/ˌhɜːkjuˈliːən/
KK[hɚkjˈuliən]IPA/ˌhɜːrkjuˈliːən/

herculean — adjective

  • herculeanpositive
  • more herculeancomparative
  • most herculeansuperlative

1. describing a piece of work or activity that demands an extraordinary amount of s

1.adjectiveC1
Definition

describing a piece of work or activity that demands an extraordinary amount of strength, stamina, or determination — far beyond what is normally expected, as if requiring the power of a mythological hero.

Example

Clearing the fallen oak tree from the driveway after the storm was a herculean task for the neighbours.

collocation: herculean task

Dr. Amara Okafor faced a herculean challenge when she rebuilt the hospital laboratory with only half the usual budget.

collocation: herculean challenge

Common collocations
  • herculean task
  • herculean effort
  • herculean feat
  • herculean undertaking
  • herculean challenge
Synonyms
  • arduous

    focuses on sustained hardship over time; less dramatic than herculean

  • backbreaking

    informal; emphasises exhausting physical labour

  • grueling

    emphasises the exhausting, punishing quality of the effort

  • strenuous

    focuses on vigorous physical or mental exertion; does not connote near-impossibility

Antonyms
  • easy

    requiring little or no effort

  • effortless

    achieved without visible strain

  • trivial

    so minor that it presents no challenge

Grammar Patterns

herculean + noun

be + herculean

Usage Note

The word always carries a connotation of scale and difficulty beyond ordinary experience, referring back to the mythological labours of Hercules. It is most naturally used with nouns describing work or achievement (task, effort, undertaking, feat) rather than with nouns describing objects, people, or symptoms (e.g., ❌ 'a herculean headache'). Although it can be used predicatively ('The job was herculean'), it appears far more often directly before a noun.

Common Mistakes

Moving the sofa was a herculean job.
Moving the sofa was a heavy job.
herculean implies a scale of difficulty far beyond everyday tasks; moving a sofa is too ordinary for this word.
She is very herculean.
She completed a herculean task.
herculean describes the task or effort, not the person directly (except in rare literary use).

Word family

  • herculeanly
    adverbC2
  • herculean task
    noun phraseB2

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

All six words describe difficult tasks, but their connotations differ in important ways. Herculean is the strongest: it implies superhuman effort and often carries a mythological or epic tone — the task feels nearly impossible, like the twelve labours of Hercules. Arduous suggests sustained hardship over a long period, often with an uphill climb (in both literal and figurative senses). Backbreaking is informal and strongly tied to exhausting physical labour such as digging, lifting, or building. Grueling focuses on the punishing, draining quality of the effort, especially when it pushes someone to their mental or physical limit. Laborious emphasises the slow, painstaking nature of work, often implying it is tedious as well as hard. Strenuous centres on the vigorous use of energy, whether physical (a strenuous hike) or mental (strenuous debate). To choose: use herculean when the scale is extraordinary and the outcome uncertain ('a herculean reform of the healthcare system'); use arduous for long, grinding effort ('an arduous journey through the desert'); use backbreaking for raw physical work ('backbreaking farm labour under the sun'); use grueling for exhausting endurance ('a grueling 12-hour exam'); use laborious for slow, painstaking toil ('the laborious process of checking every figure'); and use strenuous for vigorous exertion ('strenuous exercise' or 'strenuous objections').

arduousbackbreaking ↗grueling ↗laborious ↗strenuous ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Phrases

  • herculean task
  • herculean effort
  • herculean feat
  • herculean undertaking

Etymology

LatinFrenchEnglish

The adjective comes from Hercules (Latin Herculēs), the demigod of Roman mythology famous for his superhuman strength and for completing the Twelve Labours — a series of nearly impossible tasks assigned by King Eurystheus. English borrowed the name as a general adjective in the late 1500s, first meaning 'of or related to Hercules' and later broadening to describe any task, effort, or challenge that requires strength or determination far beyond the ordinary.