💪 A tough job 👷 A hard worker

backbreaker

1 7.0

A task that is very hard or makes your back hurt

noun
/ˈbækˌbreɪkər/

: trabajo agotador

Shoveling snow is a real backbreaker because it requires a lot of physical strength.

Examples

The play is a bit of a backbreaker for the Bulldogs, who not only lost a 7-0 lead earlier but also entered the locker room down 10 points instead of three.

Blog text (28)
Lifting heavy boxes all day at work felt like a backbreaker that left me exhausted.
The second one was a backbreaker.

Blog text (21)
"That was a backbreaker for sure," Douglas said.

Blog text (17)
The intense workout was such a backbreaker that I could barely move the next day.

Synonyms

backbreaking work

vsbackbreaker

2 4.4

Very hard work that makes your back ache

highlights tasks that may cause physical injury or lasting pain rather than hard labor

ball-breaker

vsbackbreaker

Offensive

1 9.1

A very hard task or job that is tiring and difficult

applies more to tasks that cause physical injury rather than general punishing situations

backbreaking task

vsbackbreaker

5.3

A very hard job that makes your body very tired

focuses on tasks that also cause physical injury or lasting pain rather than tiredness

Antonyms

light work

Informal

3 1.0

An easy task that takes little effort

How Physically Demanding

backbreaker

1 7.0

hard work

355 1.6

manual labor

18 3.3

light work

Informal

3 1.0

routine

263 1.0

Surface Forms

backbreaker singular

backbreakers plural

Morphology

backbreaker = back + breaker (transparent) = back + break + er

Compound of 'back' + 'breaker' where the sense 'a task that breaks backs' (causes extreme strain or injury) follows directly from the components.

Etymology

The word backbreaker is built from back + break, so it makes the picture of something that would 'break your back' from effort. That's why backbreaker can mean a task or object that is extremely hard or causes back pain.