1 : characterized by effort to the point of exhaustion; especially physical effort; "worked their arduous way up the mining valley"; "a grueling campaign"; "hard labor"; "heavy work"; "heavy going"; "spent many laborious hours on the project"; "set a punishing pace"
2 : of very poor quality or condition; "deplorable housing conditions in the inner city"; "woeful treatment of the accused"; "woeful errors of judgment"
