Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

operose

/ˈɒpəɹəʊs/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 0.00 in modern English

Syllables: oper-ose
IPA: /ˈɒpəɹəʊs/

9

Scrabble Score

7

Letters

2

Syllables

5

Unique Chars

Meaning

adj

Of a person: busy, industrious, or painstaking.

Archaic

adj

Made with or requiring a lot of labour; painstaking, laborious.

Archaic

adj

Tedious, wearisome.

Archaic

Example Sentences

"When this operose and hard-working student descended from his closet, and gained a sort of tacit leave from his tutor to join in the circle of us gay and high-spirited fellows, the part he played was no more advantageous to him, than his former exhibition had been among the learned."
"Povver and riches appear then to be, vvhat they are, enormous and operoſe machines contrived to produce a fevv trifling conveniencies to the body, […]"
"when there was so great reason to make it common, since the square letters are less operose, more expedite and facile, then the Samaritan, which is, when time serves, used as a plea for their great Antiquity."

Etymology

From Latin operōsus.

Origin

Source language: Latin

Word Breakdown

Root: operōsus

Usage

Archaic

Inflected Forms

more operose (comparative) most operose (superlative)

Derived Forms

operosely operoseness operosity

Synonyms

arduous backbreaking grueling gruelling hard heavy laborious punishing toilsome

Questions

How do you pronounce operose?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈɒpəɹəʊs/.
What does operose mean?: Of a person: busy, industrious, or painstaking.
Where does operose come from?: It is traced to Latin.

How to pronounce operose

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “operose”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈɒpəɹəʊs/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
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