grueling

Language: en

🇺🇸 /ˈgruːɪlɪŋ/

📖 Definitions

  1. adjective
    Extremely tiring and demanding; exhausting, requiring great effort and endurance.; Severely punishing or trying; causing extreme physical or mental strain.; Characterized by extreme difficulty or hardship; arduous and relentless.
  2. verb
    Present participle of 'gruel'; to punish or exhaust severely (archaic/dialectal).

🔗 Details

Word forms

uncountable 3rd sing.: gruels Past: grueled, gruelled Past part.: grueled, gruelled Pres part.: grueling, gruelling

Collocations

grueling schedulegrueling taskgrueling workoutgrueling ordealgrueling processgrueling testgrueling pace

Derivatives

gruelinggruellinggrueledgruelled

Synonyms

exhaustingpunishingarduousdemandingtaxingdrainingbackbreaking

Antonyms

easyeffortlessrelaxing

Commonly confused

gruelling
EN: 'Gruelling' is simply the British English spelling of 'grueling' (double 'l' vs single 'l'); meaning is identical.
gruel
EN: 'Gruel' as a noun is a thin, watery porridge; 'grueling' as an adjective means extremely exhausting or demanding.

Spelling tips

EN: American English spells it 'grueling' (one 'l'), while British English uses 'gruelling' (double 'l'). Both are correct in their respective varieties.

💬 Examples

  1. The marathon runners faced a grueling course through the mountains.

  2. She endured a grueling interrogation that lasted over twelve hours.

  3. The soldiers completed a grueling training exercise in the desert heat.

  4. The long march was grueling the troops beyond their limits.