toilsome
Requiring hard effort
Toilsome describes work that is laborious and exhausting, requiring sustained hard effort: the toilsome task of clearing the land by hand.
The word is literary and somewhat old-fashioned, appearing more often in historical or formal contexts than everyday speech.
It emphasizes the grinding, wearying nature of the labor rather than just its difficulty.
Requiring intense exertion
- demandingRequiring great effort
- challengingHard to accomplish
- difficultRequiring much effort
- toughDurable and strong
hard · onerous · taxing · burdensome · uphill · Herculean · formidable · rigorous
Hard, boring work
- slogLaborious persistent effort
- ploddingMoving slowly, heavily
- slowLacking in speed
- meticulousShowing extreme attention to detail
painstaking · methodical · time-consuming · detailed · careful · thorough · industrious · diligent
Causing fatigue
- fatiguingCausing weariness or exhaustion
- wearisomeCausing fatigue through monotony
- drainingDepleting one's reserves
- wearyingCausing gradual exhaustion
enervating · wearing · sapping · depleting · grinding · relentless · unrelenting · debilitating
strenuous
Requiring intense exertion
- demandingRequiring great effort
- challengingHard to accomplish
- difficultRequiring much effort
tough · hard · onerous · taxing · burdensome · uphill · Herculean · formidable · rigorous · punishing
drudgery
Hard, boring work
meticulous · painstaking · methodical · time-consuming · detailed · careful · thorough · industrious · diligent · assiduous
tiring
Causing fatigue
- fatiguingCausing weariness or exhaustion
- wearisomeCausing fatigue through monotony
- drainingDepleting one's reserves
wearying · enervating · wearing · sapping · depleting · grinding · relentless · unrelenting · debilitating · crushing
- exhaustingdraining, taxing, tiring, exhausting, fatiguing