onerous

[ on-er-uhs, oh-ner- ]

adjective

1. burdensome, oppressive, or troublesome; causing hardship:

   onerous duties.

   Synonyms: galling, irksome, grievous, heavy

2. having or involving obligations or responsibilities, especially legal ones, that outweigh the advantages:

   an onerous agreement.

onerous

/ ˈəʊ-; ˈɒnərəs /

adjective

1. laborious or oppressive
2. law (of a contract, lease, etc) having or involving burdens or obligations that counterbalance or outweigh the advantages

Derived Forms

• ˈonerously, adverb
• ˈonerousness, noun

Other Words From

• oner·ous·ly adverb
• oner·ous·ness o·ne·ros·i·ty [oh-n, uh, -, ros, -i-tee], noun
• non·oner·ous adjective
• non·oner·ous·ly adverb
• non·oner·ous·ness noun
• un·oner·ous adjective
• un·oner·ous·ly adverb
• un·oner·ous·ness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of onerous¹

1350–1400; Middle English < Latin onerōsus, equivalent to oner- (stem of onus ) burden + -ōsus -ous

Word History and Origins

Origin of onerous¹

C14: from Latin onerōsus burdensome, from onus load

Example Sentences

Rolling back access—by, for instance, forcing multiple in-person visits to the doctor—would impose onerous new burdens on abortion in blue states.

From Slate

Those included new restrictions on the height of barriers, car-proof materials, Fire Department access, and disability access, as well as onerous insurance requirements, engineer-approved plans, and city fees.

From Slate

As Quartz reported Wednesday, users are also complaining about an onerous software-update process, malfunctioning Siri mechanisms, and A.I.-generated responses that are even less accurate than those that spew from hallucinating engines like ChatGPT.

From Slate

“A lot of North American and European carriers have really struggled with routes to China because they can't fly through Russia or over Russia, and by avoiding Russia, you add about three hours to the flight time, which is more expensive for the airlines and onerous for passengers.”

From BBC

Since then, many law enforcement leaders say they believe the state has done little to address the problems fueling the black market — onerous taxation and regulations for legal producers, few consequences for illegal operators and limited access to legal marijuana in wide swaths of California.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• arduous
• backbreaking
• burdensome
• cumbersome
• demanding
• difficult
• distressing
• excessive
• exhausting
• grueling
• harsh
• intolerable
• laborious
• oppressive
• painful
• rigorous
• severe
• strenuous
• taxing
• troublesome