Dictionary

laborious en · ADJ

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio
• /ləˈbɔːɹiəs/
• (US) audio

Etymology

From Old French laborios, from Latin laboriosus. By surface analysis, labor + -ious

Meanings

1. Requiring much physical effort; toilsome.
   • 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:
   • 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:
2. Mentally difficult; painstaking.
3. Industrious.
   • 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:

Forms

Deriveds

unlaborious · laboriosity · laboriously · laboriousness · ultralaborious · nonlaborious

Relateds

labour · labor

Synonyms

painful (requiring effort) · worksome (requiring effort) · painstaking (requiring effort) · toilsome (requiring effort)

Translations (35)

ca laboriós (requiring much physical effort) · ru тру́дный (requiring much physical effort) · ru кропотли́вый (mentally difficult) · de arbeitsaufwändig (requiring much physical effort) · ga maslach (requiring much physical effort) · nl arbeidsintensief (requiring much physical effort) · de mühsam (requiring much physical effort) · pt trabalhoso (requiring much physical effort) · es dispendioso (mentally difficult) · nl laborieus (requiring much physical effort) · nl bewerkelijk (requiring much physical effort) · ro laborios (requiring much physical effort) · bg мъчен (mentally difficult) · pl mozolny (requiring much physical effort) · pl pracochłonny (requiring much physical effort) · fr laborieux (requiring much physical effort) · ru тяжёлый (requiring much physical effort) · ga saothrach (requiring much physical effort) · sv mödosam (requiring much physical effort) · la labōriōsus (requiring much physical effort) · bg труден (requiring much physical effort) · bg напрегнат (requiring much physical effort) · ru трудоёмкий (requiring much physical effort) · cs pracný (requiring much physical effort) · sv tung (requiring much physical effort) · ang earfoþe (requiring much physical effort) · it laborioso (requiring much physical effort) · ru утоми́тельный (requiring much physical effort) · grc ἐπίπονος (requiring much physical effort) · de arbeitsintensiv (requiring much physical effort) · es laborioso (requiring much physical effort) · de mühselig (requiring much physical effort) · ru напряжённый (requiring much physical effort) · grc μογερός (requiring much physical effort) · pt laborioso (requiring much physical effort)