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ARDUOUS

 - 3 dictionary results

ar⋅du⋅ous

  [ahr-joo-uhs or, especially Brit., ahr-dyoo-]
Use ARDUOUS in a Sentence
–adjective
1. requiring great exertion; laborious; difficult: an arduous undertaking.
2. requiring or using much energy and vigor; strenuous: making an arduous effort.
3. hard to climb; steep: an arduous path up the hill.
4. hard to endure; full of hardships; severe: an arduous winter.
Origin:
1530–40; < L arduus erect, steep, laborious; see -ous

Related forms:
ar⋅du⋅ous⋅ly, adverb
ar⋅du⋅ous⋅ness, noun

Synonyms:
1. hard, toilsome, onerous, wearisome, burdensome, exhausting.

Antonyms:
1. easy.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To ARDUOUS
ar·du·ous   (är'jōō-əs)   
adj.  

  1. Demanding great effort or labor; difficult: "the arduous work of preparing a Dictionary of the English Language" (Thomas Macaulay).

  2. Testing severely the powers of endurance; strenuous: a long, arduous, and exhausting war.

  3. Hard to traverse, climb, or surmount. See Synonyms at burdensome, hard.


[From Latin arduus, high, steep.]
ar'du·ous·ly adv., ar'du·ous·ness n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

arduous 
1538, "high, steep, difficult to climb," from L. arduus "high, steep," from PIE base *eredh- "to grow, high" (cf. O.Ir. ard "high"). Metaphoric extension to "difficult" first attested 1713.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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