labored
la·bored [ ˈlā-bərd]
: produced or performed with labor
//labored breathing
also : lacking ease of expression
//a labored speech Recent Examples on the Web
//Its amendments can feel labored and tokenistic — to pick one from the air, hanging Indian painter Vasudeo S. Gaitonde next to Mark Rothko struck me as blankly obligatory and without nuance.
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BostonGlobe.com, "The Brancusi gallery at the Museum of Modern Art.," 18 Oct. 2019
//On its own, the image has an all-at-once clarity that makes verbal description feel labored.
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Washington Post, "First the New Yorker profiled Romare Bearden. Then the artist and activist decided to tell his own story, in pictures.," 9 Oct. 2019
//In a recording of the call released by the company, Taylor’s soothing, steady voice coaxed crucial information out of Quinn between her labored breaths and coughs.
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Sarah Wu, BostonGlobe.com, "Shrewsbury woman meets the alarm company operator who may have saved her life," 27 Aug. 2019
//In extreme cases, malaria left untreated can become severe, with symptoms like labored breathing and neurological effects.
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Haley Weiss, Scientific American, "Malaria Treatments Are Not Working Well," 23 Aug. 2019
//Some of these sidesteps feel a little labored — Khloe’s story line is the least interesting — but the brisk pacing and economical style are seductive and keep the reader’s attention.
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Rumaan Alam, Washington Post, "‘Very Nice’ is a good book to pack for your vacation. But maybe it’s more than that.," 25 June 2019
//Some of these sidesteps feel a little labored — Khloe's story line is the least interesting — but the brisk pacing and economical style are seductive and keep the reader's attention.
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Rumaan Alam, Dallas News, "'Very Nice,' indeed: Marcy Dermansky's fourth novel is a great summer read," 25 June 2019
//Leonard’s movement has looked labored at various points since the Eastern Conference finals against Milwaukee.
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Marc Stein, New York Times, "The Raptors Won Game 4 and Are 1 Win From an N.B.A. Championship," 7 June 2019
//The back end is a rather labored effort to extract leadership lessons from their careers.
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Philip Delves Broughton, WSJ, "‘Leaders’ and ‘Leadership in Turbulent Times’ Review: Getting Things Done," 16 Nov. 2018
First Known Use of labored
1566, in the meaning defined above
Dictionary Entries near labored
More Synonyms and Antonyms oflabored
to devote serious and sustained effort
- the young lawyer labored most of the weekend over the difficult legal brief
- banged away,
- beavered (away),
- drudged,
- dug (away),
- endeavored,
- fagged,
- grubbed,
- humped,
- hustled,
- moiled,
- pegged (away),
- plodded,
- plowed,
- plugged,
- slaved,
- slogged,
- strained,
- strove
- (also strived),
- struggled,
- sweat
- (or sweated),
- toiled,
- travailed,
- tugged,
- worked
- (or wrought)
- bummed,
- chilled,
- dallied,
- dillydallied,
- footled,
- goldbricked,
- goofed (off),
- hacked (around),
- hung (around or out)
- (also hanged (around or out)),
- idled,
- lazed,
- loafed,
- lounged,
- shirked,
- slacked (off),
- vegged out
- dabbled,
- doodled,
- fooled around,
- fribbled,
- goofed (around),
- hung
- (also hanged),
- hung about
-
[British],
- messed around,
- monkeyed (around),
- played,
- pottered (around),
- puttered (around),
- trifled
More Definitions forlabored
: produced or done with great effort
: not having an easy or natural quality
: produced or done with effort or difficulty
//labored breathing
: produced or performed with difficulty or strain
//labored breathing