exhausting
Meaning
making you feel extremely tired, both physically and mentally
requiring a great deal of effort and patience, often to the point of being frustrating
Structure
Usage
the long hike through the mountains was physically exhausting.
she found the endless bureaucratic paperwork to be mentally exhausting.
it can be exhausting to care for a newborn baby with its constant demands.
Etymology
the word 'exhausting' originates from the latin verb exhaurire, meaning 'to draw out, drain off, empty completely'. this verb is a compound of the prefix ex- ('out') and haurire ('to draw, drain'). the concept evolved from the literal act of drawing out a liquid, such as emptying a well, to the figurative sense of completely using up resources or energy. the english adjective 'exhausting', formed by adding the participial suffix '-ing' to the verb 'exhaust', thus captures the modern sense of an activity that figuratively drains one's strength or patience.
Analysis
ex- (latin prefix, meaning 'out'); haust (from latin verb haurire, meaning 'to draw, drain'); -ing (old english suffix, forming present participles and adjectives from verbs)