English Reference
Adjective

strenuous

adj.
B2 Upper Intermediate US /ˈstɹɛnjuəs/ UK /stɹˈɛnjuːəs/ stren·u·ous

adj.needing a lot of physical or mental effort. You use this to describe tasks that are very tiring or difficult.

adj.requiring or using great exertion or high intensity. Often describes physical activities or mental efforts that test the limits of one's stamina.


SIMPLE

The doctor told him to avoid strenuous exercise for a week.

CONTEXTUAL

After a strenuous day of hiking up the mountain, the group was exhausted but happy.

COMPLEX

The legal team made a strenuous effort to overturn the verdict, citing several procedural errors that occurred during the initial trial.

Usage

Commonly modifies nouns like 'exercise', 'effort', 'activity', or 'objection'.

The result is a comedy without gags, a comedy which, for all the strenuous high-jinks, is afraid to be flippant or mean or, indeed, funny in any way.

The Guardian· 21 Aug 2026

It was against the league champions, whose pre-season has involved far less strenuous travel than their own.

The Guardian· 17 Aug 2026

From Latin strenuus (“quick”).

Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This entry
Level B2 · Upper Intermediate
Frequency Occasional
Updated