Make Your Point: LABORIOUS

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pronounce LABORIOUS:

luh BORE ee us

connect this word to others:

Let's take a peek at four synonyms of the word difficult.

1. Something that's difficult because it demands effort and time yet seems impossible, like climbing a mountain, is ar__us.

2. Something that's difficult because it's a heavy burden that falls completely on you, like raising a child with no help whatsoever, is on__ous.

3. Something that's difficult because it's boring, repetitive, and seems to take forever, like folding twenty loads of laundry, is te__ous.

4. Something that's difficult because its takes a ton of hard work, like harvesting a field of corn or giving birth to a child, is laborious.

Okay, now give this a try: What's the most difficult thing you've had to do this month? And which of the four words above, if any, would you pick to describe that thing? Would you pick more than one?

(To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.)

definition:

We took the word "labor" straight from Latin, where it means "toil, exertion, or pain."

In English, too, labor is hard work. And laborious things require a whole lot of hard work.

grammatical bits:

Part of speech:

Adjective: "It takes laborious effort;" "Their efforts were crude but laborious."

Other forms:

Labor, laboriously, laboriousness.

how to use it:

Pick the common, formal, emphatic word "laborious" to emphasize how physically demanding a task is.

We most often talk about laborious tasks, methods, and processes.

We also talk about people's laborious efforts, movements, and attempts.

Occasionally, we talk about laborious objects. That is, if an object looks like it required a lot of hard work to make or use, you could call it laborious. Let's see some examples:

1. A laborious card catalog system takes a lot of effort to use and maintain.

2. Sheldon's whiteboard filled with laborious calculations shows that he took a lot of time and effort to make them.

3. "A piece of notebook paper, half filled with her square, laborious script" (Katherine Paterson) shows that this character had to exert a lot of effort to write by hand.

examples:

"Tyrion... began his laborious descent of the steep stone steps that corkscrewed around the exterior of the library tower."
— George R. R. Martin, A Game of Thrones, 1996

"A new vehicle typically takes four years to develop, including laborious safety testing."
— Jack Ewing, New York Times, 8 February 2022

has this page helped you understand "laborious"?

Awesome, I'm glad it helped!

Thanks for letting me know!
If you have any questions about this word, please message me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.

study it:

Explain the meaning of "laborious" without saying "strenuous" or "wearisome."

try it out:

In the book Animal Farm, Major, a pig, says to the other animals:

"Now, comrades, what is the nature of this life of ours? Let us face it: our lives are miserable, laborious, and short."

Talk about what he means. Would you agree that the statement also applies to most human lives? Why or why not?

before you review, play:

Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.

This month, our game is "Sarah In Dip a Day!"

I'll give you some song lyrics that contain a sophisticated word or phrase—but I'll swap it out for what you might hear if you didn't know that word or phrase.

Your job is to find the spot where the lyrics quit making sense, then reinterpret those words as the artist actually wrote them.

Here's an example:

"I'm on a one-way street,
My fall from grace complete,
But I feel that there's a hazard hanging over me.
But I take away the feeling that I can't see,
And now you say to me
Sarah in dip a day."
—Amaranthe

Here, the meaning breaks down at "Sarah in dip a day," which should read "Serendipity."

Try this last one today:

"Don't cow town, don't bow down.
Loosen up, get the lead out.
Backs up, let them shout.
Backs up, sweat it out."
—Elton John

If you need some clues, highlight the hidden white text below.
1. The part that needs to be changed is..."cow town"
2. The term that's being sung means..."act like an extremely respectful servant, as if you've placed your forehead on the ground"
To see the answer, scroll all the way down!

review this word:

1. A near opposite of LABORIOUS is

A. EASY.
B. CAREFREE.
C. WORK-SHY (lazy and unwilling to work much).

2. In a Barbara Kingsolver book, a character muses, "Sometimes I imagine _____... but _____ are too laborious even to imagine."

A. leaving .. the logistics of money and travel and a passport
B. my parents back when they were children .. their faces, rounded and smoothed,
C. leaping from [the bridge] .. the sound of rushing air and the sensation of freefalling

a final word:

I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love.

I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words.

From my blog:
On vocabulary...
  36 ways to study words.
  Why we forget words, & how to remember them.
  How to use sophisticated words without being awkward.
On writing...
How to improve any sentence.
How to motivate our kids to write.
How to stop procrastinating and start writing.
How to bulk up your writing when you have to meet a word count.

From my heart: a profound thanks to the generous patrons, donors, and sponsors that make it possible for me to write these emails. If you'd like to be a patron or a donor, please click here. If you'd like to be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.

A disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.

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Make Your Point > Archived Issues > LABORIOUS

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