Laborious vs Facile - What's the difference?
laborious | facile |
Requiring much physical effort; toilsome.
*
Mentally difficult; painstaking
Industrious.
* Dryden
Easy, now especially in a disparaging sense; contemptibly easy.
* , vol.I, New York, 2001, p.243:
Effortless, fluent (of work, abilities etc.).
* 1932 , (Duff Cooper), Talleyrand , Folio Society 2010, p. 54:
* 1974 , (Graham Greene), (The Honorary Consul) , Pocket Books, New York, p.54:
* 1990 , (Peter Hopkirk), The Great Game , Folio Society 2010, p. 372:
Lazy, simplistic (especially of explanations, discussions etc.).
* 2012 , (Chris Huhne), The Guardian , 3 May 2012:
(chemistry) Of a reaction or other process, taking place readily.
As adjectives the difference between laborious and facile
is that laborious is requiring much physical effort; toilsome while facile is easy, now especially in a disparaging sense; contemptibly easy.laborious
English
Alternative forms
* labourious * laborous * labourousAdjective
(en adjective)- Let us face it, our lives are miserable, laborious , and short.
- All with united force combine to drive / The lazy drones from the laborious hive.
Synonyms
* (requiring effort) painstaking, toilsome, worksomeDerived terms
* laboriouslyfacile
English
Adjective
(en adjective)- as he that is benumbed with cold sits shaking, that might relieve himself with a little exercise or stirring, do they complain, but will not use the facile and ready means to do themselves good […].
- His facile disposition made him many friends.
- we can learn the impression that he made upon a stranger and a foreigner at this period, thanks to the facile pen of Fannu Burney.
- "Discipline," Jorge Julio Saavedra was repeating, "is more necessary to me than to other more facile writers.
- A facile and persuasive writer, he also turned out countless newspaper articles on Russian aims in Central Asia and how best these could be thwarted.
- There is a facile view that our green commitments – to tackling climate change, avoiding air and water pollution, protecting natural habitats – are an obstacle to growth. The message of the commodity markets is surely different.
- Decarboxylation of beta-keto acids is facile ...