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Work cut out

Idiomatic Phrase
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

An idiom indicating that a difficult or demanding task lies ahead, requiring significant effort and perseverance; often employed in character development to foreshadow struggles, highlight resilience, or establish the magnitude of a protagonist's journey.

Detailed Definition
Work cut out means to face a difficult task requiring effort, skill, patience, or persistence. In poetry, the idiom can describe moral struggle, artistic craft, social reform, love, grief, or survival. The “cut out” image suggests a task already shaped and waiting, like cloth to be sewn or labour assigned. A poet may use it to show the scale of a challenge without melodrama. The phrase is useful for exploring vocation, responsibility, and the courage needed when difficulty is clear from the start.
Example
Example in poetry:
A quest poem might say the hero has his work cut out when the mountain path vanishes in snow; In a craft poem, the translator has her work cut out preserving both meaning and music; The phrase work cut out means facing a difficult task already clearly before one; A poet can use it for challenge, labour, and determined effort.
Additional Notes
Work cut out usually appears in the fuller form have one’s work cut out, meaning face a demanding task already defined by circumstances. The cutting image suggests cloth or material prepared for labour, so the challenge is not vague but laid before the worker. In poetry, it suits journeys, moral reform, caregiving, artistic revision, or survival under pressure. Students should notice whether the task is chosen, imposed, heroic, comic, or exhausting.
Also Known As
difficult task
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