Words / C1

GROO-uh-ling/ˈɡruːəlɪŋ/

Gruelling (US grueling) means extremely tiring and demanding: a gruelling shift, gruelling heat. Exhausting is everyday; arduous (already in the dictionary) is a formal cousin. Gruel is thin porridge — the grim historical joke. Do not call a single steep stairs gruelling.

Meaning

Extremely tiring and demanding (British spelling).

Examples

• “A gruelling night shift left no time to rewrite the abstract.”
• “A gruelling double marking weekend still needed a second pair of eyes.”
• “Arduous stresses difficulty; gruelling stresses what it does to the body and patience.”

Good to know

Exhaustingly hard (British -ll-). US: grueling. Everyday: exhausting. Formal cousin: arduous. Not one flight of stairs.

Near in meaning

exhausting

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