different between laborious vs knotty

English

Alternative forms

• labourious (obsolete)
• laborous (obsolete)
• labourous (obsolete)

Etymology

From Old French laborios, from Latin laboriosus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /l??b???i?s/
• Rhymes: -???i?s

Adjective

laborious (comparative more laborious, superlative most laborious)

1. Requiring much physical effort; toilsome.
2. Mentally difficult; painstaking.
3. Industrious.

Synonyms

• (requiring effort): painstaking, toilsome, worksome

Derived terms

• laboriously

Related terms

• labor, labour

Translations

English

Etymology

From Middle English knotty, knotti, equivalent to knot +? -y. Compare Dutch knoestig (“knotty”), German knotig (“knotty”), Swedish knutig, knotig (“knotty”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?n?ti/
• Homophone: naughty (in accents with the cot-caught merger)
• Rhymes: -?ti

Adjective

knotty (comparative knottier or more knotty, superlative knottiest or most knotty)

1. Full of knots.
2. Complicated or tricky; complex, difficult.

   Synonyms: intricate, thorny

Derived terms

• Knotty Ash

Translations

Middle English

Alternative forms

• knotti, cnotti

Etymology

From knotte +? -y.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?kn?ti?/

Adjective

knotty

1. knotted, tied, linked
2. knotty, tangled, twisted
3. knobby, bumpy, clumped
4. knoblike, protruding

Descendants

• English: knotty
• Scots: knottie

References

• “knott?, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-04-23.