operose

Definitions

from The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

  • adjective Laborious; attended with labor; tedious.

Examples

  • They do not sow barley without very copious manure, and then they expect from it ten for one, an increase equal to that of better countries; but the culture is so operose that they content themselves commonly with oats; and who can relate without compassion, that after all their diligence they are to expect only a triple increase?

    A Journey to the Western Isles of Scotland

  • They were conducted on a scale of grandeur and expense which may still surprise; but taste as yet was in its infancy, and the whole was characterized by the unmerciful tediousness, the ludicrous incongruities, and the operose pedantry of a semi-barbarous age.

    Memoirs of the Court of Queen Elizabeth

Note

The word 'operose' comes from a Latin word meaning 'work'.