gruelling

gruelling — adjective

1. so difficult and demanding that it drains your energy and leaves you completely

1.adjectiveB2
Definition

so difficult and demanding that it drains your energy and leaves you completely exhausted.

Example

Yara completed the gruelling marathon despite a knee injury.

collocation: gruelling + marathon (endurance event)

The students faced a gruelling set of exams that lasted two weeks.

collocation: gruelling + exams (sustained mental effort)

Common collocations
  • gruelling schedule
  • gruelling journey
  • gruelling training
  • gruelling race
  • gruelling task
  • gruelling experience
  • gruelling workout
  • gruelling climb
  • gruelling pace
Synonyms
  • exhausting

    more general and common; gruelling adds the idea of sustained difficulty over time

  • arduous

    more formal, often describes physically challenging journeys or tasks

  • punishing

    more informal, emphasises the harshness or severity of the experience

  • backbreaking

    informal, specifically for heavy physical labour

Antonyms
  • easy

    general opposite; requires little effort

  • undemanding

    not requiring much energy or effort

  • effortless

    seeming to need no effort at all

Grammar Patterns

gruelling + noun

be + gruelling

Usage Note

Commonly paired with nouns that describe prolonged physical or mental effort, such as 'journey,' 'race,' 'training,' 'workout,' 'exam,' or 'negotiations.' Can be used before a noun (a gruelling task) or after a linking verb (the task was gruelling).

Common Mistakes

I had a gruelling day at work because I had three meetings.
I had a gruelling day at work because I had to review four hundred files before the deadline.
'gruelling' is too strong for ordinary tiredness; it should describe something close to exhaustion.
The maths quiz was gruelling.
The final exam was gruelling
three hours of complex problems with no break.' — Use 'gruelling' for sustained, severe difficulty, not for short, routine tasks.

Word family

  • gruel
    nounC2
  • gruellingly
    adverbC2

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

All four words describe something that requires a lot of energy, but they differ in focus and register. 'Exhausting' is the most general and neutral — anything that tires you out can be exhausting, from a long walk to an emotional conversation. 'Gruelling' focuses on the sustained, punishing nature of the effort — it is not just tiring but feels like an ordeal that tests your limits. 'Arduous' is more formal and often describes difficult physical journeys or long-term projects that demand patience and resolve. 'Backbreaking' is informal and reserved for heavy physical labour such as digging, lifting, or farm work. For a tough mountain climb you might call the hike gruelling because of the duration and strain; a hike across loose rocks for hours could also be arduous; but you would not call a difficult maths exam backbreaking unless it was being used humorously.

gruelling ↗exhausting ↗arduousbackbreaking

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

  • physically gruelling
  • mentally gruelling
  • emotionally gruelling
  • absolutely gruelling
  • particularly gruelling

Phrases

  • at a gruelling pace

Etymology

Old FrenchEnglish

The word comes from an old verb 'to gruel,' which meant to punish or exhaust someone. That verb was formed from the noun 'gruel' — a thin, watery porridge that was considered a meagre or harsh punishment when given as a meal. By the 1800s, 'gruelling' had come to describe any experience as punishingly difficult.