Laborious Meaning
/ləˈbɔːɹiəs/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
adjRequiring much physical effort; toilsome.
adjMentally difficult; painstaking.
Sentence Examples
It was a laborious process.
Clearing the thick forest was a long and laborious task.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Antonyms:
CEFR Practice Quiz
Cleaning the entire house by myself was a ____ task that took all weekend.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
It was a ____ process to transcribe all the handwritten notes into the computer system late last night.
Word Origin & History
From Old French laborios, from Latin laboriosus. By surface analysis, labor + -ious
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Let us face it, our lives are miserable, laborious, and short."
— 1943 November – 1944 February (date written; published 1945 August 17), George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], chapter I, in Animal Farm […], London: Secker & Warburg, published May 1962, →OCLC, page 7:
"The coal is then transferred to broad-gauge wagons for transport to Dublin. The transhipment is a rather laborious business, the coal being shovelled by hand from one wagon to another."
— 1951 May, R. K. Kirkland, “The Cavan & Leitrim Railway”, in Railway Magazine, page 343:
"All, with united Force, combine to drive / The lazy Drones from the laborious Hive."
— 1697, Virgil, “The Fourth Book of the Georgics”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, page 129, lines 241–242:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
Cleaning the entire house by myself was a ____ task that took all weekend.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
It was a ____ process to transcribe all the handwritten notes into the computer system late last night.