different between onerous vs grievous

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.

English

Alternative forms

• greuous (obsolete)
• grievious, grevious (less common / nonstandard outside dialects)

Etymology

From grieve, from Middle English greven, from Old French grever, from Latin grav? (“I burden”). Developed in the 13th century.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??i?.v?s/
• Rhymes: -i?v?s
• (nonstandard outside dialects) IPA^(key): /??i?.vi?.?s/ (often used in conjunction with the spelling grievious)

Adjective

grievous (comparative more grievous, superlative most grievous)

1. Causing grief, pain or sorrow.
   • 1883, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island

     As for the captain, his wounds were grievous indeed but not dangerous.

2. Serious, grave, dire or dangerous.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:lamentable

Translations

Anagrams

• grevious