Meanings
comparative more laborious · superlative most laborious · alternative obsolete labourious · alternative obsolete laborous · alternative obsolete labourous
- Requiring much physical effort; toilsome.
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 71 more example
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 343Synonyms: painstaking, toilsome, worksome, painful
- Mentally difficult; painstaking.
- 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
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveRequiring much physical effort; toilsome.
More synonyms by meaning
adjectivecharacterized by effort to the point of exhaustion; especially physical effort
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinlaboriosus
- Old Frenchlaborios
- Englishlaborious
From Old French laborios, from Latin laboriosus. By surface analysis, labor + -ious
More words from Old French, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek ἐπίπονος, μογερός
- ἐπίπονος (epíponos)requiring much physical effort
- μογερός (mogerós)requiring much physical effort
Bulgarian труден, напрегнат
- труден (truden)requiring much physical effort
- напрегнат (napregnat)requiring much physical effort
- мъчен (măčen)mentally difficult
Catalan laboriós
- laboriósrequiring much physical effort
Czech pracný
- pracnýrequiring much physical effort
Dutch bewerkelijk, arbeidsintensief
- bewerkelijkrequiring much physical effort
- arbeidsintensiefrequiring much physical effort
- laborieusrequiring much physical effort
French laborieux
- laborieuxrequiring much physical effort
German arbeitsintensiv, mühselig
- arbeitsintensivrequiring much physical effort
- mühseligrequiring much physical effort
- mühsamrequiring much physical effort
- arbeitsaufwändigrequiring much physical effort
Irish saothrach, maslach
- saothrachrequiring much physical effort
- maslachrequiring much physical effort
Italian laborioso
- laboriosorequiring much physical effort
Latin labōriōsus
- labōriōsusrequiring much physical effort
Polish pracochłonny, mozolny
- pracochłonnyrequiring much physical effort
- mozolnyrequiring much physical effort
Portuguese laborioso, trabalhoso
- laboriosorequiring much physical effort
- trabalhosorequiring much physical effort
Romanian laborios
- laboriosrequiring much physical effort
Russian трудоёмкий, тру́дный
- трудоёмкий (trudojómkij)requiring much physical effort
- тру́дный (trúdnyj)requiring much physical effort
- тяжёлый (tjažólyj)requiring much physical effort
- напряжённый (naprjažónnyj)requiring much physical effort
- утоми́тельный (utomítelʹnyj)requiring much physical effort
- кропотли́вый (kropotlívyj)mentally difficult
Spanish laborioso, dispendioso
- laboriosorequiring much physical effort
- dispendiosomentally difficult
Swedish mödosam, tung
- mödosamrequiring much physical effort
- tungrequiring much physical effort
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with laborious
Cite this entry
laborious. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/laborious
“laborious.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/laborious. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “laborious,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/laborious.
Source: laborious on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.