operose Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. adjective satellite characterized by effort to the point of exhaustion; especially physical effort
    heavy; toilsome; grueling; punishing; backbreaking; hard; arduous; gruelling; laborious.
    • 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

WordNet

Op"er*ose` adjective
Etymology
L. operosus, fr. opera pains, labor, opus, operis, work, labor.
Definitions
  1. Wrought with labor; requiring labor; hence, tedious; wearisome. "Operose proceeding." Burke. "A very operose calculation." De Quincey. -- Op"er*ose`ly, adv. -- Op"er*ose`ness, n.

Webster 1913