1. requiring much work or effort; laborious
Usage: formal; literary

Examples

• The operose task of cataloging the entire library collection took months to complete.
• His operose writing style made even simple concepts seem unnecessarily complex.
• The operose process of hand-copying manuscripts was replaced by the printing press.
• She found the operose nature of the research project both challenging and rewarding.
• The operose legal procedures delayed the settlement for years.
• Critics described his operose methodology as overly complicated for the study’s goals.