arduous

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   Needing or using up much energy; testing powers of endurance.

   The movement towards a peaceful settlement has been a long and arduous political struggle.

2. 2
   adj

   burning; ardent

   1805-1814, Dante, Henry Francis Cary (translator), The Divine Comedy Where flames the arduous Spirit of Isidore.

3. 3
   adj

   Difficult or exhausting to traverse.

   Beyond the river, an arduous slope rises 3286 feet in 13 miles.

4. 4
   adj

   difficult to accomplish

5. 5
   adj

   characterized by effort to the point of exhaustion

6. 6
   adj

   taxing to the utmost

Etymology

From Latin arduus (“lofty, high, steep, hard to reach, difficult, laborious”), akin to Irish ard (“high”).