grueling

Meanings

1. 1adjectivecomparable

   Very hard and tiring, requiring great effort over a long time.

   Grammar: Used before a noun or after be: a grueling race; the schedule was grueling.

   Patterns

   • a grueling task
   • grueling for someone

   The marathon was a grueling test of endurance.

   After a grueling week of exams, he slept all weekend.

   They face a grueling schedule of twelve matches in a month.

2. 2adjectivebefore a noun

   Extremely demanding in an emotional or mental way, as with long questioning.

   Grammar: Often describes interviews or questioning: a grueling interrogation.

   Patterns

   • a grueling interview

   The witness endured a grueling cross-examination.

   She went through a grueling interview process with five rounds.

   It was a grueling few months of caring for her sick father.

Word forms

Common combinations

grueling schedule

The band kept a grueling schedule of touring.

grueling workout

The grueling workout left my legs shaking.

grueling race

She won the grueling race by a few seconds.

grueling climb

The grueling climb took six hours.

grueling training

Soldiers endure grueling training before deployment.

Synonyms and how they differ

exhausting

Exhausting focuses on how drained you feel afterward, while grueling describes the harsh, prolonged demand itself.

punishing

Punishing is harsher and suggests damaging strain, while grueling suggests long difficult effort.

arduous

Arduous is more formal and describes a hard journey or task, whereas grueling stresses relentlessness.

demanding

Demanding is milder and general, while grueling is more intense.

Opposites

Word family

gruel noun

a thin watery porridge

gruelingly adverb

in a very tiring way

grueling verb

the -ing form of an old verb meaning to exhaust

gruelling adjective

the British spelling

Commonly confused: grueling or gruesome?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “grueling”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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