grueling

adjective

gru·​el·​ing ˈgrü-ə-liŋ How to pronounce grueling (audio)
variants or gruelling
: trying or taxing to the point of exhaustion : punishing
a grueling race
gruelingly adverb

Examples of grueling in a Sentence

running a marathon is grueling cutting diamonds can be grueling work
Recent Examples on the Web According to Keith Dunn who attends the race and provides updates on X – formerly known as Twitter – Paris finished the grueling course with a time of 59 hours, 58 minutes and 21 seconds; just 99 seconds before the 60-hour time limit elapsed. Ben Morse, CNN, 23 Mar. 2024 Can the team maintain poise and excellence over a grueling two-month tournament? Neal B. Freeman, National Review, 20 Mar. 2024 As Jen takes up a physically grueling passion of her own — aerial acrobatics — Jones and cinematographer Andrew White present graceful re-stagings of moments from her career, which make deft use of shadow and spotlight, and veer into rousing territory. Siddhant Adlakha, Variety, 18 Mar. 2024 The Iditarod sees teams of dogs and mushers travel a grueling 1,000-mile course across the Alaskan wilderness. Leah Sarnoff, ABC News, 15 Mar. 2024 As countries continue to burn fossil fuels and the planet reaches the highest average temperatures measured by scientists, a grueling year of fires is expected around the world. Manuela Andreoni, New York Times, 9 Mar. 2024 The 6-foot-10 junior forward, born in Pula, Croatia, participated in a grueling summer campaign with the Polish national team, as his father, Igor Sr., played professionally in several countries and took the reins in Poland three years ago. Shane Connuck, Charlotte Observer, 8 Mar. 2024 The streaming era has made the process all the more grueling as independent artists struggle to make a living in an especially volatile economy. Chloe Berger, Fortune, 6 Mar. 2024 Also, the Mountaineers open conference play with five grueling games in succession. Jon Wilner, The Mercury News, 1 Mar. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'grueling.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

from present participle of obsolete gruel to exhaust, punish, from gruel, noun

First Known Use

1852, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of grueling was in 1852

Dictionary Entries Near grueling

Cite this Entry

“Grueling.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/grueling. Accessed 29 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

grueling

adjective
gru·​el·​ing
variants or gruelling
: requiring extreme effort : exhausting

More from Merriam-Webster on grueling

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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