Which word means requiring mental or physical effort?

Which word means requiring mental or physical effort?

• A. Laborious
• B. Contrite
• C. Detain
• D. Miserly

Answer: (A)

Think about words that describe effort. A task that demands a lot of work, time, or energy is described as laborious. The idea is that it requires sustained effort, sometimes with difficulty or tedium, which is exactly what “requiring mental or physical effort” captures. That makes laborious the best match for this meaning. The other options aren’t about effort: contrite refers to feeling remorseful, detain means to hold someone back, and miserly describes someone who is stingy with money. For example, a laborious assignment might involve long calculations or a difficult, tedious workflow.

Think about words that describe effort. A task that demands a lot of work, time, or energy is described as laborious. The idea is that it requires sustained effort, sometimes with difficulty or tedium, which is exactly what “requiring mental or physical effort” captures. That makes laborious the best match for this meaning.

The other options aren’t about effort: contrite refers to feeling remorseful, detain means to hold someone back, and miserly describes someone who is stingy with money. For example, a laborious assignment might involve long calculations or a difficult, tedious workflow.