onerous

C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ˈoʊnərəs/ UK /ˈəʊnərəs/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

adj
involving heavy obligation, effort, or difficulty; burdensome

The treaty imposed onerous reparations on the defeated nation.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · involving heavy obligation,... burdensome arduous taxing demanding heavy oppressive laborious exacting

Opposites

easy light effortlessundemandingtrivial

Word family

Derived forms onerouslyonerousness

Related forms onus exonerate

Simplified etymology

Onerous entered English in the late Middle Ages with the sense “burdensome.” It derives from Latin onus, oner- “burden,” the same element found in exonerate.

Etymology

From Old French 'onereus', from Latin 'onerosus' ('burdensome'), from 'onus' (genitive 'oneris', 'burden, load').

onerosus Latin onus Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# onerous

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /ˈoʊnərəs/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈəʊnərəs/

## Meanings
1. involving heavy obligation, effort, or difficulty; burdensome

## Examples
- The treaty imposed onerous reparations on the defeated nation.

## Synonyms
- burdensome
- arduous
- taxing
- demanding
- heavy
- oppressive
- laborious
- exacting

## Antonyms
- easy
- light
- effortless
- undemanding
- trivial

## Derived Forms
- onerously
- onerousness

## Related Forms
- onus
- exonerate

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: onerosus
- Root: onus

## Etymology
From Old French 'onereus', from Latin 'onerosus' ('burdensome'), from 'onus' (genitive 'oneris', 'burden, load').

## AI Etymology
Onerous comes from Old French 'onereus', from Latin 'onerosus' ('burdensome'), from 'onus' (genitive 'oneris', 'burden, load'). The etymological trail includes Latin onerosus and Latin onus. As an adjective, onerous means involving heavy obligation, effort, or difficulty; burdensome. The same family is visible in derived forms such as onerously and onerousness and related forms such as onus and exonerate.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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