strenuous

From Latin strenuus (“quick”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈstɹɛnjuəs/
• Hyphenation: stren‧u‧ous

• Audio (US):

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strenuous (comparative more strenuous, superlative most strenuous)

1. Having great vigour or energy; forceful.

   Synonyms: ardent, earnest, eager, energetic, determined, resolute, vigorous, zealous

   strenuous exercise

   strenuous activity

2. (of a task) Requiring great exertion; very laborious.
   • 1951 October, “Notes and News: The Harmonium at Troutbeck”, in Railway Magazine, page 709:

     It [Troutbeck] has religious isolation also, for it is several miles—and very strenuous miles in winter—from the parish church at Mungrisdale, and the introduction of the harmonium to the waiting room was due to the zeal of a vicar of many years ago who, in the absence of any other room in the village, obtained permission to use the premises for services, including Sunday School. Most of his successors have continued this self-sacrificing duty.

   • 1961, J. A. Philip, “Mimesis in the Sophistês of Plato”, in Proceedings and Transactions of the American Philological Association 92, page 467:

     We can achieve this god‐likeness only by unremitting and strenuous effort of the intellect.

• strenuity
• strenuosity

• “strenuous”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “strenuous”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “strenuous”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.