Adjacent Words

Onerous definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

ON'EROUS, a. [L. onerosus, from onus, a load.
1. Burdensome; oppressive.
2. In Scots law, being for the advantage of both parties; as an onerous contract; opposed to gratuitous.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: not easily borne; wearing; "the burdensome task of preparing the income tax return"; "my duties weren't onerous; I only had to greet the guests"; "a taxing schedule" [syn: burdensome, onerous, taxing]

Merriam Webster's

adjective Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French honereus, from Latin onerosus, from oner-, onus burden; akin to Sanskrit anas cart Date: 14th century 1. involving, imposing, or constituting a burden ; troublesome <an onerous task> 2. having legal obligations that outweigh the advantages <an onerous contract> • onerously adverb • onerousness noun Synonyms: onerous, burdensome, oppressive, exacting mean imposing hardship. onerous stresses being laborious and heavy especially because distasteful <the onerous task of cleaning up the mess>. burdensome suggests causing mental as well as physical strain <burdensome responsibilities>. oppressive implies extreme harshness or severity in what is imposed <the oppressive tyranny of a police state>. exacting implies rigor or sternness rather than tyranny or injustice in the demands made or in the one demanding <an exacting employer>.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. 1 burdensome; causing or requiring trouble. 2 Law involving heavy obligations. Derivatives: onerously adv. onerousness n. Etymology: ME f. OF onereus f. L onerosus f. onus oneris burden

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Onerous On"er*ous, a. [L. onerosus, fr. onus, oneris, a load, burden: cf.F. on['e]reux.] Burdensome; oppressive. ``Too onerous a solicitude.'' --I. Taylor. Onerous cause (Scots Law), a good and legal consideration; -- opposed to gratuitous.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

If you describe a task as onerous, you dislike having to do it because you find it difficult or unpleasant. (FORMAL) ...parents who have had the onerous task of bringing up a very difficult child. ADJ

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

a. Burdensome, oppressive, heavy, weighty, hard, difficult.

Moby Thesaurus

Herculean, annoying, arduous, arduously, backbreaking, besetting, bothersome, burdensome, burdensomely, crushing, cumbersome, cumbrous, demanding, difficult, difficultly, effortful, encumbering, exacting, exhausting, exigent, forced, grievous, grinding, grueling, hampering, hard, hard-earned, hard-fought, hardly, harsh, heavy, heavy-handed, hefty, impedimental, impeding, impeditive, incumbent, irksome, killing, labored, laborious, laboriously, lumpish, massive, onerously, operose, oppressive, overburdensome, painful, plaguey, ponderous, punishing, strained, strenuous, superincumbent, taxing, toilsome, toilsomely, tough, troublesome, trying, tyrannous, unruly, unwieldy, uphill, vexatious, wearing, wearisome, wearying, weighty