arduous

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 30, 2023 is: arduous \AHR-juh-wus\ adjective

Arduous is an adjective used to describe something that is very difficult or strenuous.

// The gorgeous waterfall at the top of the mountain was worth the arduous hike.

[See the entry >](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/arduous)

Examples:

“And with [hockey player, Patrice] Bergeron now enjoying the retired life after 19 seasons spent with the Bruins, the six-time Selke Trophy winner acknowledged that [Zdeno] Chara has already tried to recruit him for some arduous training.” — Conor Ryan, Boston.com, 21 Nov. 2023

Did you know?

Arduous isn’t the type of word one expects to hear in a folk song—it’s a bit too formal—but strenuous work and difficult journeys are the stuff of many a classic tune. Take “The Wayfaring Stranger,” for an example, a somber song about life’s [travails](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/travail) performed by everyone from singer and activist [Paul Robeson](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Paul-Robeson) to country star [Emmylou Harris](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Emmylou-Harris): “I know dark clouds will gather o’er me / I know my pathway’s rough and steep.” Such a lyric gets at the dual literal/figurative nature of arduous, which comes from the Latin adjective arduus, meaning “high,” “steep,” or “difficult.” For quite a while after appearing in English in the mid-1500s, arduous hewed closely to the figurative “strenuous” or “difficult” sense until poet [Alexander Pope](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Alexander-Pope-English-author) invoked steepness when he wrote of “those arduous paths they trod” in his 1711 work “An Essay on Criticism.” To pen such a work at the age of 23, and in [heroic couplets](https://bit.ly/4aejb1y) no less, must have been an arduous challenge indeed, but like the wayfaring stranger seeking a brighter land, Pope had his eyes on the prize.