tall order
Hefty demand indeed
A tall order is a request or task that's difficult to fulfill.
The height metaphor suggests something hard to reach: Finishing the project by Friday is a tall order.
Often used to signal skepticism about whether something can be done: You want me to convince him? That's a tall order.
- arduousDemanding strenuous effort
- steep climbSharply angled upward path
- demandingRequiring great effort
- difficultRequiring much effort
- undertakingTask one commits to
formidable · long shot · heavy lift · heavy lifting · uphill battle · big deal · ambitious · task · challenging · hard sell · daunting · huge · pipe dream · mission impossible · monumental · high bar · stretch goal · grueling
- hardshipshardship, adversity, struggle, misfortune, difficulties
- setbacksfailing, back to square one, stuck, losing, stumbles
- challengeschallenge, difficult, hard, challenging, tough
- ordersorder, command, decree, dictate, mandate
- measurement idiomsinch by inch, give an inch, whole nine yards, by a mile, go the extra mile
- tall talesPaul Bunyan, Pecos Bill, John Henry, Johnny Appleseed, Davy Crockett
difficulty/ease of accomplishment
tall orderpiece of cake
Idiomatic easy task
walk in the park · cinch · easy · breeze · cakewalk
taller, tallest, tallness, tallish, tallboy, tall tale, tall story, tall ship