How to Use onerous in a Sentence

onerous

adjective
  • The government imposed onerous taxes on imports.
  • People were offering spare rooms, or sometimes a whole floor, but the process was onerous.
    Anna Russell, The New Yorker, 2 July 2022
  • The steps needed to become a candidate, let alone full member, is an onerous process that can take years or even decades.
    Robert Hart, Forbes, 16 June 2022
  • Critics of new regulations often say costs will be too onerous.
    Jean Eaglesham and Paul Kiernan, WSJ, 17 May 2022
  • Or consider the onerous scope-of-practice restrictions in many states.
    Sally Pipes, Forbes, 20 June 2022
  • The resignations come amid state criminal justice reforms that some have criticized for being too onerous.
    Jon Brown, Fox News, 26 June 2022
  • Tax filing for crypto users can be extremely onerous, and Gillibrand and Lummis’s bill attempts to help ease those difficulties.
    Andrew R. Chow, Time, 7 June 2022
  • The many steps are onerous, and must be undertaken by a magician whose mind is settled and fixed upon his work, on the day and at the hour of the planet involved, in a fortunate place, and during fair weather.
    Kent Russell, Harper’s Magazine , 25 May 2022
  • But critics say the rules are onerous and out of touch with the reality of how many charter schools operate: autonomously, and as alternatives to traditional public schools.
    New York Times, 13 May 2022
  • The industry’s best hope for avoiding overly onerous regulation might rest with Washington’s inertia.
    Jacob Carpenter, Fortune, 30 June 2022
  • But red tape and funding make this an onerous journey when the idea was born in the 1990s.
    Petula Dvorak, Washington Post, 30 Mar. 2023
  • These were paid for by the French themselves in onerous costs set by the armistice agreement.
    Robert O. Paxton, Harper's Magazine, 17 Dec. 2023
  • Of course, even with onerous terms, some still decide to go ahead.
    Jemima McEvoy, Forbes, 10 Jan. 2023
  • The bride’s wedding dress search was a little more onerous.
    Alexandra MacOn, Vogue, 7 Aug. 2024
  • If the logistics are too onerous, the event could take place in the Denver metro area instead.
    Eli Stokolsstaff Writer, Los Angeles Times, 6 Oct. 2022
  • The loans that China provides are often opaque and onerous.
    Shannon K. O’Neil, Foreign Affairs, 20 Feb. 2024
  • The reality of the cap hit to a team signing a QB to that kind of deal — a team already over the cap limit — is onerous.
    Greg Cote, Miami Herald, 6 Mar. 2024
  • This was supposed to unleash the British from all the onerous obligations of the European Union.
    Peter Bergen, CNN, 20 Oct. 2022
  • The prospect of over 850 miles of boring, back-and-forth driving suddenly seemed less onerous.
    Eric Bangeman, Ars Technica, 21 Oct. 2022
  • Lee found the limitations on his right to work onerous.
    Timothy McLaughlin, The Atlantic, 28 July 2022
  • The flaw was fixed with an over-the-air update, a recall fix that's less onerous for automakers and consumers.
    Matt McFarland, CNN, 14 July 2022
  • And in the 74 Pinehurst case, New York argued that the law is far less onerous than it was described in the petition for review.
    Matt Ford, The New Republic, 6 Oct. 2023
  • Len Thomas, a 75-year-old retiree, said the closure would be onerous for people without a car.
    Travis Andersen and, BostonGlobe.com, 3 Aug. 2022
  • The kafeel could exert onerous control over a worker’s life and movements.
    Sam Knight, The New Yorker, 3 Dec. 2022
  • Jones’ contract is not onerous enough that he can be considered safe to make the roster.
    Jeff Fedotin, Forbes, 14 Aug. 2022
  • Iran also has to pare the onerous subsidies that have long drained its treasury.
    Reuel Marc Gerecht and Ray Takeyh, WSJ, 26 July 2022
  • Chalmers believed the requirements were onerous and took time away from serving clients.
    Kevin Rector, Los Angeles Times, 27 Aug. 2022
  • Building an index, while onerous, is only part of the battle.
    WIRED, 2 Aug. 2023
  • The problem with keeping that promise and her vow to let the Trump tax cuts die is that writing a new tax bill is onerous and will depend on which party controls the House and Senate.
    Max Thornberry, Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government, 15 Aug. 2024
  • One simply practices until the act not only stops being onerous but becomes easy, even joyful.
    Jack Herrera, The New Yorker, 8 Aug. 2024

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'onerous.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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