1.
[syn: arduous, backbreaking, grueling, gruelling, hard, heavy, laborious, operose, punishing, toilsome]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
grueling \grueling\, gruelling \gruelling\adj.
1. characterized by toilsome effort; requiring extreme
physical or mental effort; as, a grueling campaign.
Syn: arduous, backbreaking, back-breaking, exhausting,
gruelling, hard, heavy, laborious, labourious,
punishing, slavish, strenuous, toilsome.
[WordNet 1.5]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
gruelling
adj 1: characterized by effort to the point of exhaustion;
especially physical effort; "worked their arduous way up
the mining valley"; "a grueling campaign"; "hard labor";
"heavy work"; "heavy going"; "spent many laborious hours
on the project"; "set a punishing pace" [syn: arduous,
backbreaking, grueling, gruelling, hard, heavy,
laborious, operose, punishing, toilsome]