Today's word is Herculean, spelled capital H-E-R-C-U-L-E-A-N.
Herculean is an adjective.
Something described as Herculean, which is often uncapitalized,
is characterized by extraordinary power, extent, intensity, or difficulty.
Here's the word used in a sentence from The Ringer by Mirren Fader.
Strong doesn't even properly describe Ashton Ginty's Herculean how-is-he-doing-that kind of strength.
Before his sophomore year in college, he squatted 575 pounds.
Coach James Montgomery thought that Junty had maxed out.
He was wrong.
Now Junty easily squats 605 pounds like a hot knife through butter, Montgomery says.
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 12 enormously difficult tasks or labors.
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 The word Herculean in the 16th century came to be used for any job or task that's extremely difficult or calls for enormous strength.
With your Word of the Day, I'm Peter Sokolowski.
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