What does Sisyphean mean?

Sisyphean describes a task as seemingly endless and futile—you keep doing it but it never gets done.

The word comes from the name of Sisyphus, a character in Greek mythology who was punished by being forced to continuously roll a boulder up a steep hill. Every time he was just about to get it to the top, the boulder would roll back down, and he’d have to start all over again.

Because it’s based on a name, Sisyphean is often capitalized, but not always. It is especially used in the phrase Sisyphean task.

Example: With a family of six, laundry is a Sisyphean task—it seems there is always another load to wash.