Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Requiring or showing significant effort; done with difficulty: Describes actions, speech, or processes that appear strained, difficult, or not effortless.
   • Lacking natural ease or spontaneity; seeming forced or contrived: Describes a style, manner, or expression that seems artificial, overly deliberate, or not flowing smoothly.

Usage and Examples

• Requiring or showing effort:

  • His labored breathing after the marathon was a sign of his exhaustion.
  • The construction of the road through the mountains was a long and labored process.

• Lacking natural ease:

  • The politician's speech felt labored, as if he were carefully reading every word without conviction.
  • Her labored attempts at humor often made the conversation feel awkward.

Advanced Usage

• "A labored metaphor": A comparison in writing or speech that feels overly complex, strained, or difficult to understand.

  • The author's use of a labored metaphor about shipbuilding to describe a simple friendship confused the readers.

• "Labored under a misconception": To be hindered or affected by a false belief. (Note: This is a phrasal verb use of the verb "labor," not a direct use of the adjective "labored," but it is a closely related common expression.)

  • For years, she labored under the misconception that she was not good enough.

Variants and Related Words

• Labor (verb): To work hard; to move, breathe, or proceed with great effort.
  • She labored for hours to finish the report.
• Laborious (adjective): Requiring considerable time and effort; characterized by hard work.
  • Digging the trench by hand was a laborious task.
• Laborer (noun): A person who does unskilled physical work.
  • The farm employed several laborers during the harvest season.

Synonyms

• Strained: Showing signs of tension or effort.
• Arduous: Involving or requiring strenuous effort; difficult and tiring.
• Forced: Produced or maintained with effort; not spontaneous.
• Stilted: (Of speech or writing) stiff and self-conscious or unnatural.

Antonyms

• Effortless: Requiring no physical or mental exertion.
• Natural: Arising from inherent qualities; not artificial or forced.
• Fluid: Smooth and flowing effortlessly.
• Spontaneous: Performed or occurring as a result of a sudden inner impulse.

Related Phrases and Idioms

• "A labored point": An argument or idea that is explained in an overly complicated or unconvincing way.
  • He made such a labored point about punctuality that everyone stopped listening.
• "With labored steps": Walking with slow, difficult steps.
  • The tired hikers continued up the path with labored steps.

Adjective

1. requiring or showing effort
   • heavy breathing
   • the subject made for labored reading
2. lacking natural ease
   • a labored style of debating