arduous

English

Etymology

FromLatinarduus(“lofty, high, steep, hard to reach, difficult, laborious”),akin to Irishard(“high”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation)IPA^(key):/ˈɑː.djuː.əs/,/ˈɑː.d͡ʒuː.əs/
• (US)IPA^(key):/ˈɑɹ.d͡ʒu.əs/

• Audio(US):

  (file)

Adjective

arduous(comparativemorearduous,superlativemostarduous)

1. Needing or using up muchenergy;testing powers ofendurance.

   The movement towards a peaceful settlement has been a long andarduouspolitical struggle.

   • 2012May 5, Phil McNulty, “Chelsea 2-1 Liverpool”, inBBC Sport‎^[1]:

     Chelseasurvived and can now turn their attentions to the Champions League final againstBayern Munichin Germany later this month as they face an increasinglyarduoustask to finish in the Premier League's top four.

   • For more quotations using this term, seeCitations:arduous.
2. (obsolete)burning;ardent
   • 1805-1814,Dante,Henry Francis Cary(translator),The Divine Comedy

     Where flames thearduousSpirit of Isidore.

3. Difficultorexhaustingtotraverse.
   • 1974,Sue Bowder,The American biking atlas & touring guide,page77:

     Beyond the river, anarduousslope rises 3286 feet in 13 miles.

   • 1999,Scott Ciencin, Mike Fredericks,Dinoverse:

     Mike looked up from thearduousmountain trail. They'd been climbing for five hours and he was beginning to feel irritable.

   • 2006,Jack W. Plunkett,Plunkett's Entertainment & Media Industry Almanac 2006:

     Survivor reaches as many as 28 million viewers who watch contestants win a new Pontiac or guzzle Mountain Dew after scaling anarduouscliff.

   • For more quotations using this term, seeCitations:arduous.

Synonyms

• burdensome,demanding,exhausting,fatiguing,laborious,onerous,strenuous,strugglesome,wearisome

Derived terms

• arduously
• arduousness
• unarduous

Related terms

• arduity

Translations

needing or using up much energy

• Arabic:شَاق(šāq)
• Bulgarian:труден(bg)(truden),усилен(bg)(usilen),мъчен(bg)(mǎčen)
• Catalan:ardu(ca)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese:Gian khổ／Gian khổ(gaan¹fu²),Gian khổ／Gian khổ(gaan¹geoi⁶)

  Mandarin:Gian khổ／Gian khổ(zh)(jiānkǔ),Gian khổ／Gian khổ(zh)(jiānjù)

• Danish:anstrengende,besværlig(da)
• Dutch:uitputtend(nl),zwaar(nl),moeizaam(nl)
• Finnish:vaivalloinen(fi),työläs(fi),uuvuttava(fi),rasittava(fi),ankara(fi)
• French:ardu(fr)
• German:mühsam(de),anstrengend(de),beschwerlich(de),erschöpfend(de)
• Hungarian:megerőltető(hu),fárasztó(hu),fáradságos(hu)
• Italian:arduo(it)
• Japanese:Khổ しい(ja)(くるしい, kurushii),Khó nghi な(ja)(なんぎな, nangi-na)
• Korean:고난의(ko)(gonan-ui),힘드는(himdeuneun)
• Norwegian:slitsom,vanskelig(no)
• Polish:uciążliwy(pl),arcytrudny(pl)
• Portuguese:árduo(pt)
• Russian:напряжённый(ru)(naprjažónnyj),тру́дный(ru)(trúdnyj),тяжёлый(ru)(tjažólyj)
• Serbo-Croatian:mukotrpan(sh)
• Spanish:arduo(es),riguroso(es)
• Swedish:arbetsam(sv),besvärlig(sv),jobbig(sv),ansträngande(sv),avancerad(sv),krånglig(sv),svår(sv)
• Turkish:ağır(tr),çetin(tr),gayretli(tr),güç(tr),zor(tr)

hard to climb or traverse

• Bulgarian:стръмен(bg)(strǎmen),недостъпен(bg)(nedostǎpen)
• Catalan:ardu(ca)
• Dutch:uitputtend(nl),zwaar(nl),steil(nl),moeilijk te beklimmen
• Finnish:jyrkkä(fi),vaativa(fi)
• German:steil(de)
• Hungarian:meredek(hu)
• Italian:arduo(it)
• Norwegian:vanskelig(no)
• Persian:صعبالعبور(sa'b-ol-obur),دشوارگذر(došvâr-gozar)
• Portuguese:árduo(pt)
• Russian:круто́й(ru)(krutój),труднодосту́пный(ru)(trudnodostúpnyj)
• Spanish:arduo(es)
• Swedish:brant(sv),besvärlig(sv)
• Tajik:саъбулубур(saʾbulubur),душворгузар(dušvorguzar)
• Turkish:sarp(tr),çetin(tr)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions atWiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Bengali:^{(pleaseverify)}শ্রমসাধ্য(bn)(sromośaddho)
• Ido:^{(pleaseverify)}des-facila(1),^{(pleaseverify)}abrupta(io)(2)

Further reading

• “arduous”,inWebster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary,Springfield, Mass.:G. & C. Merriam,1913,→OCLC.
• “arduous”,inThe Century Dictionary[…],New York, N.Y.:The Century Co.,1911,→OCLC.
• “arduous”,inOneLook Dictionary Search.