grueling

adjective

gru·​el·​ing ˈgrü-ə-liŋ 

variants or gruelling

: trying or taxing to the point of exhaustion : punishing

a grueling race

gruelingly

ˈgrü-ə-liŋ-lē 

adverb

Synonyms

• arduous
• Augean
• backbreaking
• challenging
• demanding
• difficult
• effortful
• exacting
• formidable
• hard
• heavy
• hellacious
• herculean
• killer
• laborious
• moiling
• murderous
• pick-and-shovel
• rigorous
• rough
• rugged
• severe
• stiff
• strenuous
• sweaty
• tall
• testing
• toilsome
• tough
• uphill

Examples of grueling in a Sentence

running a marathon is grueling

cutting diamonds can be grueling work

Recent Examples on the Web

After a grueling campaign to start the toll, which only went into effect on Jan. 5, Mr. Lieber must now help fend off the most serious threat to the program yet: the native New Yorker in the Oval Office. —Stefanos Chen, New York Times, 20 Feb. 2025

But just the course of a playoff run is so grueling. —Emile Nuh, The Athletic, 19 Feb. 2025

Considered one of the most grueling off-road races in the world, the annual King of the Hammers event combines desert racing and rock crawling. —Kristin Shaw, Forbes, 19 Feb. 2025

The prosecutors are motivated by a desire to improve wages and working conditions in a notoriously grueling job, union representatives said. —Madeline Buckley, Chicago Tribune, 11 Feb. 2025

Word History

Etymology

from present participle of obsolete gruel to exhaust, punish, from gruel, noun

First Known Use

1852, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

grueling

adjective

gru·​el·​ing

variants or gruelling

ˈgrü-ə-liŋ 

: requiring extreme effort : exhausting