Describing Challenges: English Vocabulary List

extremely tiring and demanding strenuous effort and perseverance

"The race was grueling."

"The marathon was a grueling test of endurance and only half of the runners managed to cross the finish line before the cutoff time."

intimidating, challenging, or overwhelming in a way that creates a sense of fear or unease

"The task is daunting."

"The task of cleaning the entire house before the guests arrived was daunting so the family hired a professional cleaning service to help them."

relating to a task that is endless, futile, and laborious

"The work is Sisyphean."

"Trying to eliminate all errors from the report felt like a Sisyphean task because new mistakes appeared every time they fixed an old one."

requiring great strength, effort, or courage

"The effort was Herculean."

"The firefighters made a Herculean effort to save the burning building and they managed to rescue everyone inside despite the dangerous conditions."

causing a significant loss of physical, emotional, or mental energy

"The job is draining."

"The emotional conversation with her ex husband was draining and she needed to take a long nap afterward to recover her energy."

causing problem or difficulty

"This is a thorny issue."

"The committee debated the thorny issue of immigration for hours and they still could not reach a consensus on the best policy."

requiring a lot of effort and time

"The work is painstaking."

"The artist did painstaking work on the portrait and she spent over one hundred hours painting every single detail of the face."

difficult and needing a lot of energy and effort

"The duty is onerous."

"The contract placed onerous obligations on the smaller company and the lawyers advised their client not to sign the agreement under those unfair terms."

severe, demanding, or unrelenting in requiring effort, compliance, or performance

"The teacher is exacting."

"The ballet teacher had exacting standards and she made her students practice the same movement for hours until it was perfect."

achieving something after facing a lot of challenges and putting in a great deal of effort

"Her success is hard-won."

"The athlete's hard-won victory was the result of years of training sacrifice and dedication to her sport."

causing fatigue or irritation due to being repetitive or tiresome

"The journey is wearisome."

"The long journey was wearisome and the travelers were exhausted by the time they finally reached their destination late at night."

challenging situation that requires considerable effort

"It is an uphill battle."

"The company faces an uphill battle against its larger competitors but the CEO believes that innovation and hard work will lead to success."

to accept or tolerate a difficult or undesirable situation that one cannot change without complaint

"You just have to grin and bear it."

"The injection hurt a lot but he decided to grin and bear it without making noise."

to successfully overcome challenges or difficulties

"She surmounted every obstacle in her path."

"She faced many obstacles but she managed to surmount all of them through hard work and determination to succeed."

to endure a difficult or dangerous situation with courage and determination

"They braved the storm to find shelter."

"The firefighters had to brave the intense flames and smoke to rescue the family trapped inside the burning house."

to use skill and cunning to gain an advantage over someone, defeating or surpassing them through intelligence

"The fox outsmarted the hunting dogs."

"The clever fox managed to outsmart the hunter by leading him into a trap that the fox had set earlier."