How to Use onerous in a Sentence

onerous

adjective
  • The government imposed onerous taxes on imports.
  • Of course, even with onerous terms, some still decide to go ahead.
    — Jemima McEvoy, Forbes, 10 Jan. 2023
  • If the balance of power tips back their way, deals will get more onerous to do.
    — Rohan Goswami, semafor.com, 28 Apr. 2026
  • What is your assessment of that onerous charge?
    — Kelly G. Richardson, Oc Register, 16 Aug. 2025
  • The best cars come at a cost—and the official one tends to be the least onerous of the bunch.
    — Bryan Hood, Robb Report, 22 Jan. 2025
  • Relieving them of an onerous debt burden would be a good start.
    — Joel Mathis, The Week, 20 Dec. 2021
  • Finding a new home with less onerous requirements may not be easy.
    — Julia Horowitz, CNN, 27 Nov. 2020
  • The cost to repair it was onerous, and Hilton had no option but to junk it.
    — Susan Orlean, The New Yorker, 30 Mar. 2022
  • The suit argues the new law puts in place an onerous permit-to-purchase scheme.
    — Center Square, The Washington Examiner, 3 Sep. 2025
  • This might seem a much less onerous chore than exercising.
    — Lance Eliot, Forbes.com, 5 Jan. 2026
  • 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
  • This lawsuit is onerous and harmful.
    — Laura Einhorn, Mercury News, 27 Mar. 2026
  • Coinbase has given people a way to sidestep the big banks and their onerous fees.
    — Charles Duhigg, The New Yorker, 7 Oct. 2024
  • And much more land is subject to onerous wetlands controls at the state level.
    — James Burling, Oc Register, 14 Aug. 2025
  • Iran also has to pare the onerous subsidies that have long drained its treasury.
    — Reuel Marc Gerecht and Ray Takeyh, WSJ, 26 July 2022
  • Jones’ contract is not onerous enough that he can be considered safe to make the roster.
    — Jeff Fedotin, Forbes, 14 Aug. 2022
  • Laundry lovers know how to get rid of the things that can make washing, folding, and putting clothes away seem onerous.
    — Dan Diclerico, Good Housekeeping, 12 Aug. 2021
  • After the tears dry, the new lovebirds are faced with the onerous task of getting to know each other.
    — Megan C. Reynolds, Time, 27 June 2025
  • How many homes and commercial properties won’t get built if onerous new stretch codes catch on?
    — The Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune, 30 Mar. 2026
  • Living in an ice sheet was not as harsh, or as onerous, as Weiss had initially feared.
    — Katie Hunt, CNN, 15 Mar. 2025
  • People were offering spare rooms, or sometimes a whole floor, but the process was onerous.
    — Anna Russell, The New Yorker, 2 July 2022
  • If the heat isn’t onerous enough, Monday will be humid, Lessor said.
    — Christine Dempsey, courant.com, 24 Aug. 2020
  • Either way, Swift must have thought the terms Borchetta sought were too onerous.
    — Spencer Kornhaber, The Atlantic, 2 July 2019
  • Some small-scale developers found the costs pushed by code too onerous, driving up prices for homes.
    — Mark Dee march 12, Idaho Statesman, 12 Mar. 2026
  • Cambridge decided the cost was too onerous and quit the pursuit.
    — Corey G. Johnson, ProPublica, 5 Feb. 2025
  • The kafeel could exert onerous control over a worker’s life and movements.
    — Sam Knight, The New Yorker, 3 Dec. 2022
  • But, since the longest orbit is under 12 days, that's not so onerous.
    — John Timmer, Ars Technica, 30 July 2019
  • But the compensation structure is less onerous for the brand.
    — Vanessa Friedman, New York Times, 5 Sep. 2019
  • The money payout may be less, but there could be other onerous terms that make the settlement worse.
    — Jack Greiner, Cincinnati.com, 18 Mar. 2020
  • 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

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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