toilsome

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From toil +‎ -some.

Pronunciation

  • (UK) IPA(key): /ˈtɔɪlsəm/
  • Audio (Southern England):(file)

Adjective

toilsome (comparative more toilsome, superlative most toilsome)

  1. Requiring continuous physical effort; laborious.
    • 1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book V, Canto X”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:
      ‘And you, Sir knight,’ / (Said she) ‘that taken have this toylesome paine / For wretched woman […]!’
    • 1940 July, “Notes and News: Timetables in South Africa”, in Railway Magazine, page 422:
      The whole of the interior of South Africa is, of course, one vast plateau at a considerable elevation, and all the main lines coming up from the coast have some toilsome climbing.

Derived terms

Translations

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