laborious
/ləˈbɔːɹiəs/adjective
laborious is spelled L-A-B-O-R-I-O-U-S: 9 letters and 4 syllables. It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 36,998th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, laborious means “Requiring much physical effort; toilsome” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in laborious?
| Letters | 9: L-A-B-O-R-I-O-U-S |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 2 million words; the 36,998th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is laborious?
Laborious appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 36,998th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce laborious?
- /ləˈbɔːɹiəs/
Laborious has 4 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-laborious.wav, En-us-laborious.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of laborious
- more laborious comparative
- most laborious superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does laborious mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Requiring much physical effort; toilsome.
- 2
Mentally difficult; painstaking.
- 3
Industrious.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Laborious in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | laborieux |
| German | arbeitsintensiv, mühselig, mühsam, arbeitsaufwändig |
| Portuguese | laborioso, trabalhoso |
| Spanish | laborioso , dispendioso |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does laborious come from?
From Old French laborios, from Latin laboriosus.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).