Herculean — Meaning, Definition & Synonyms

Herculean (adjective) — Senses, Synonyms & Antonyms

1. requiring considerable physical or mental effort

   "the herculean task of grading 60 student essays over one weekend"

   similar: arduous, Augean, backbreaking, challenging, demanding, difficult, effortful, exacting, formidable, grueling, hard, heavy, hellacious, killer, laborious, moiling, murderous, pick-and-shovel, rigorous, rough, rugged, severe, stiff, strenuous, sweaty, tall, testing, toilsome, tough, uphill
   related: abstract, abstruse, complex, complicated, elusive, hairy, insoluble, intricate, involved, knotty, opaque, problematic, recondite, serious, spiny, stubborn, thorny, ticklish, tricky, bruising, burdensome, exhausting, labored, onerous, oppressive, stressful, taxing, tight, trying, annoying, bothersome, distressing, irksome, troublesome, vexatious, grievous, grim, strict, stringent, brutal, cruel, inhuman, painful
   opposite: cheap, easy, effortless, facile, light, mindless, simple, soft, undemanding
   near: achievable, clear, doable, elementary, manageable, uncomplicated, comforting, gentle, painless, relaxed, smooth, soothing, accessible, friendly, idiotproof, user-friendly

2. unusually large

   "a herculean banquet table that took eight men to lift it"

   similar: astronomical, Brobdingnagian, bumper, colossal, cosmic, cyclopean, elephantine, enormous, galactic, gargantuan, giant, gigantesque, gigantic, grand, heroic, Himalayan, huge, humongous, immense, jumbo, king-size, leviathan, mammoth, massive, mega, mighty, monster, monstrous, monumental, mountainous, oceanic, pharaonic, planetary, prodigious, super, super-duper, supersize, supersized, titanic, tremendous, vast, vasty, walloping, whacking, whopping
   related: big, bulky, considerable, extensive, good, goodly, great, gross, handsome, hefty, hulking, largish, major, outsize, overgrown, oversize, sizable, substantial, tidy, voluminous, august, formidable, grandiose, imposing, lofty, majestic, cavernous, monolithic, overwhelming, staggering, stupendous, towering, boundless, immeasurable, infinite
   opposite: bantam, bitty, diminutive, infinitesimal, Lilliputian, little bitty, micro, microminiature, microscopic, midget, miniature, minuscule, minute, pocket, pygmy, teensy, teensy-weensy, teeny, teeny-weeny, tiny, wee
   near: little, mini, petite, pint-size, puny, small, smallish, undersized, dinky, dwarfish, half-pint