different between laborious vs onerous

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 onerous, from Middle French onereux, from Old French onereus, from Latin onerosus (“burdensome”), from onus (“load”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /??n???s/, /???n???s/
• (US) IPA^(key): /??n???s/, /?o?n???s/

Adjective

onerous (comparative more onerous, superlative most onerous)

1. imposing or constituting a physical, mental, or figurative load which can be borne only with effort; burdensome.
   • 1820, Washington Irving, "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow":

     That all this might not be too onerous on the purses of his rustic patrons, who are apt to consider the costs of schooling a grievous burden, and schoolmasters as mere drones, he had various ways of rendering himself both useful and agreeable.

   • 1910, Jack London, "The Golden Poppy" in Revolution and Other Essays:

     [I]t has become an onerous duty, a wearisome and distasteful task.

Synonyms

• (burdensome): demanding, difficult, taxing, wearing

Derived terms

• onerously

Related terms

Translations

Middle English

Alternative forms

• honerous, onerose, onerouse

Etymology

From Middle French onereux, from Old French onereus, from Latin onerosus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?n??ru?s/, /??n?rus/

Adjective

onerous

1. (Late Middle English) onerous

Descendants

• English: onerous

References

• “oner?us, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2019-1-7.