Webster's English Dictionary

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onerous

oner.ous \'a:n-*-r*s, 'o--n*-\ aj [ME, fr. MF onereus, fr. L onerosus, fr. 
   oner-, onus bu]rden; akin to Skt anas cart 1: involving, imposing, or 
   constituting a burden : TROUBLESOME { an ~ task} 2: having legal 
   obligations that outweigh the advantages {~ contra ct}an imposing hardship. 
   ONEROUS stresses being laborious and heavy esp. because distasteful; 
   BURDENSOME suggests causing mental as well as physical strain; OPPRESSIVE 
   implies extreme harshness or severity in what is imposed; EXACTING implies 
   rigor or sternness rather than tyranny or injustice in the demands made or 
   in the one demanding - oner.ous.ly av SYN syn ONEROUS, BURDENSOME, 
   OPPRESSIVE, EXACTING me