WORD OF DAY: HERCULEAN
adjective | her-kyuh-LEE-un
What It Means
Something described as Herculean (often uncapitalised as herculean) is characterised by extraordinary power, extent, intensity, or difficulty.
// Although starting a garden sounded fun in theory, the constant weeding and pest control turned it into a herculean task
Examples of HERCULEAN
“Strong doesn’t even properly describe [Ashton] Jeanty’s Herculean, how-is-he-doing-that kind of strength. Before his sophomore year of college, he squatted 575 pounds. [Coach James] Montgomery thought that Jeanty had maxed out. He was wrong. Now Jeanty easily squats 605 pounds ‘like a hot knife through butter,’ Montgomery says.” — Mirin Fader, The Ringer, 5 Dec. 2024.
Did You Know?
The hero Hercules, son of the god Zeus by a human mother, was famous for his superhuman strength. To pacify the wrath of the god Apollo, he was forced to perform twelve enormously difficult tasks, or “labours.” These ranged from descending into the underworld to bring back the terrifying dog that guarded its entrance to destroying the many-headed monster called the Hydra. The feats he accomplished explain how Herculean in the 16th century came to be used for any job or task that’s extremely difficult or calls for enormous strength.
Merriam Webster Dictionary
