operose

/'ɔpərous/

Thân thiện

The student's operose study session lasted until dawn.

Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Characterized by or requiring a great deal of effort, care, and diligence; laborious and painstaking. The word describes tasks or work that are extremely demanding, often to the point of being exhausting, due to their difficulty, complexity, or tediousness.

Usage

• The adjective "operose" is a formal and somewhat literary term. It is used to describe work, processes, or activities that are notably strenuous, arduous, or requiring meticulous attention. It emphasizes the sustained and wearying effort involved.

Examples

• Adjective:
  • The operose task of cataloging the entire archive by hand took several months.
  • Her operose research methods, while thorough, left her feeling drained.
  • He found the operose details of the legal paperwork to be mentally exhausting.

Advanced Usage

• "Operose" can be used to imply not just physical labor but also mental exertion and careful, detailed work. It often carries a connotation of something being more laborious than necessary or inherently tedious.
  • The transition to the new system was an operose process for the entire department.
  • She avoided the operose procedure in favor of a more efficient method.

Variants and Related Words

• Operosely (adverb): In a laborious or painstaking manner.
  • The manuscript was operosely copied by scribes.
• Operoseness (noun): The quality or state of being operose; laboriousness. (Note: This form is very rare in modern usage.)

Synonyms

• Arduous: Involving or requiring strenuous effort; difficult and tiring.
• Laborious: Requiring considerable time and effort, especially in a way that seems long and tedious.
• Grueling: Extremely tiring and demanding.
• Punishing: Physically or mentally demanding to an extreme degree.
• Toilsome: (Archaic) Involving hard or exhausting work.

Antonyms

• Easy: Achieved without great effort; presenting few difficulties.
• Effortless: Requiring no physical or mental exertion.
• Simple: Easily understood or done; presenting no difficulty.

Related Phrases and Idioms

• An operose undertaking: A common collocation emphasizing a project or task that is particularly demanding and labor-intensive.
  • Restoring the historic building was an operose undertaking for the volunteers.

Học thuật

Adjective

1. characterized by effort to the point of exhaustion; especially physical effort
   • worked their arduous way up the mining valley
   • a grueling campaign
   • hard labor
   • heavy work
   • heavy going
   • spent many laborious hours on the project
   • set a punishing pace