Meaning & use
laborious
Last updated
Meanings
adjectivecomparable
Needing a lot of time, effort, and hard work.
Grammar: Describes tasks or processes, not people: a laborious process. Comparative: more laborious.
Patterns
- a laborious task
- a laborious process
- laborious work
Copying the data by hand was a laborious task.
The process of applying for a visa can be laborious.
They undertook the laborious job of cleaning the entire house.
adjectivecomparable
Showing hard work and effort, especially in writing or speech.
Grammar: Often describes a style that seems too effortful: a laborious explanation.
Patterns
- a laborious style
- a laborious explanation
- laborious prose
His laborious writing style made the book difficult to enjoy.
The professor gave a laborious explanation that lasted an hour.
The essay was laborious and lacked fluency.
Word forms
| comparative | more laborious |
|---|---|
| superlative | most laborious |
Common combinations
- laborious task
- Sorting the thousands of papers was a laborious task.
- laborious process
- Learning a language is a laborious process.
- laborious work
- Building the wall was laborious work.
- laborious job
- He found the job of cleaning the oven laborious.
Synonyms and how they differ
- arduous
- Suggests something is not only laborious but also difficult and demanding, often physically or mentally.
- toilsome
- More literary and old-fashioned; means the same as laborious but is rarely used in everyday speech.
- strenuous
- Emphasizes vigorous physical effort; laborious can also refer to mental effort.
Opposites
Word family
- labor noun
- Work, especially physical work.
- laboriously adverb
- In a way that takes a lot of effort.
- laboriousness noun
- The quality of being laborious.
Commonly confused: laborious or laboratory?
laborious vs laboratory
Laboratory is a place for scientific work; laborious means requiring much effort.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'laborious' correctly?
Choose one answer.
Option 1 correctly describes a task as laborious. Option 0 is wrong because 'laborious' describes tasks, not people; 'hardworking' would fit better. Option 2 uses an adjective where an adverb is needed. Option 3 is wrong for the same reason as option 0.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “laborious”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.