ONEROUS


Meaning of ONEROUS in English

ˈänərəs, ˈōn- adjective

Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French onereus, from Latin onerosus, from oner-, onus burden + -osus -ose; akin to Sanskrit anas cart and perhaps to Greek ania grief

1.

a. : that involves, imposes, or constitutes much oppressive or irksome work, effort, difficulty, or responsibility : heavily demanding : troublesome , burdensome

onerous duties

an onerous political system

an onerous task

b. : that involves, imposes, or constitutes a legal burden

onerous property

an onerous option

2. : of or relating to something done or given for an equivalent

an onerous grant

Synonyms:

onerous , burdensome , oppressive , and exacting can mean, in common, imposing great trouble, labor, or hardship. onerous implies laboriousness or heaviness and usually connotes irksomeness

an unending, tiring, onerous job

the tyranny of a majority might be more onerous than that of a despot — A.N.Whitehead

a permanent agreement which should remove onerous taxes — Enyc. Americana

burdensome usually implies both mental and physical strain

a burdensome responsibility

the burdensome customs regulations and the unfair tax laws — Allan Nevins & H.S.Commager

a burdensome bureaucratic structure — Current Biography

oppressive adds to burdensome the idea of distress to spirit or body, usually implying extreme harshness or severity and suggesting excessive impositions, cruelty, or tyranny

the utter solitude and silence were oppressive — Herman Melville

oppressive taxes

others who have lived under oppressive governments get into the fixed habit of not telling the truth to government officials — M.R.Cohen

one distant universal enemy is less oppressive than a thousand unchecked pilferers and plotters at home — George Santayana

exacting implies great demands, suggesting rigor, sternness, or extreme fastidiousness rather than oppression

aristocrats subjected themselves as proudly and willingly to the exacting discipline of the warrior — Edith Hamilton

the pity of it was that even the least exacting husband should so often desire something more piquant than goodness — Ellen Glasgow

an exacting standard for the economic system — J.M.Clark

exacting specifications

Webster's New International English Dictionary.      Новый международный словарь английского языка Webster.