1. A laborious task or activity is one that takes a long time and a great deal of p
1.adjectiveB2
Definition
A laborious task or activity is one that takes a long time and a great deal of physical or mental energy to complete — often making you feel exhausted or frustrated.
Example
The research involved the laborious process of checking every historical document by hand.
collocation: laborious process
Alessia found the laborious task of sorting old files both tiring and boring.
pattern: find + object + laborious + noun
Cleaning the sixteenth-century painting was a laborious job that took the team over three weeks.
collocation: laborious job
Building the stone wall by hand proved to be a slow and laborious effort.
pair: slow and laborious
Haruto spent a laborious afternoon moving heavy boxes from the basement to the truck.
More formal than laborious; strongly suggests sustained physical or mental struggle, often over a long period (e.g. an arduous journey across the mountains)
All five words describe tasks or activities that are not easy, but each highlights a different aspect. Laborious (the most general) focuses on the combination of time and effort — the task is long and hard. Arduous is more formal and suggests a steep climb or severe challenge, often with a physical or moral dimension (an arduous journey, arduous duties). Strenuous emphasises the high level of active energy required (strenuous exercise, strenuous objection), whereas painstaking is neutral-to-positive and points to careful, unhurried attention to detail (painstaking craftsmanship). Tiresome, by contrast, centres on the emotional result — boredom or impatience — from a task that drags on too long. A research project can be laborious (time-consuming) or painstaking (meticulous) but need not be strenuous (physically draining). A long meeting can be tiresome without being laborious. Choose the word that names the specific burden: time and effort (laborious), severity (arduous), energy output (strenuous), care (painstaking), or tedium (tiresome).
From Latin 'laboriosus' (full of toil, troublesome), derived from 'labor' (work, exertion, hardship). The word entered English through Old French 'laborieus' in the 14th century, initially carrying both the sense of 'hardworking' (describing a person) and 'requiring much effort' (describing a task). Over time, the personal meaning faded and the task-oriented meaning became dominant.