Synonym Chooser

How does the adjective cumbrous differ from other similar words?

Some common synonyms of cumbrous are cumbersome, heavy, ponderous, and weighty. While all these words mean "having great weight," cumbrous and cumbersome imply heaviness and bulkiness that make for difficulty in grasping, moving, carrying, or manipulating.

wrestled with the cumbrous furniture
early cameras were cumbersome and inconvenient

When could heavy be used to replace cumbrous?

The synonyms heavy and cumbrous are sometimes interchangeable, but heavy implies that something has greater density or thickness than the average of its kind or class.

a heavy child for his age

Where would ponderous be a reasonable alternative to cumbrous?

While in some cases nearly identical to cumbrous, ponderous implies having great weight because of size and massiveness with resulting great inertia.

ponderous elephants in a circus parade

In what contexts can weighty take the place of cumbrous?

The meanings of weighty and cumbrous largely overlap; however, weighty suggests having actual and not just relative weight.

a load of weighty boxes

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of cumbrous There were three good reasons to abandon the Clean Power Plan, and EPA administrator Scott Pruitt cited two of them in his decision, announced Monday, to rescind the cumbrous carbon dioxide rule. The Editors, National Review, 9 Oct. 2017 The Road Home Program, a state program supposed to help rebuild, was cumbrous and slow, and grants often didn’t cover the cost of repairs. Washington Post, 1 Sep. 2017 The ordinary secular mode of divorce in India is, like any other Indian legal proceeding, rather more cumbrous. Kevin D. Williamson, National Review, 27 Aug. 2017
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cumbrous
Adjective
  • Imagine being cuddled by long-legged, clumsy poodles.
    Brian Mann, NPR, 20 Apr. 2025
  • That’s — actually kind of genius, especially if the Poet was a clumsy fella who needed that kind of precautionary measure.
    Sara Netzley, EW.com, 15 Apr. 2025
Adjective
  • Comments A little case of mistaken identity took an awkward turn for Luke Bryan recently.
    Lauren Huff, EW.com, 18 Apr. 2025
  • Though, fair warning: a colleague told me using it with their manager made for a very awkward 48 hours.
    Jennifer Jolly, USA Today, 18 Apr. 2025
Adjective
  • Over the course of his pontificate, Francis contended with conservatives and with a cumbersome bureaucracy practiced in the art of resisting change.
    Randall Balmer, Time, 21 Apr. 2025
  • But deportation — a cumbersome process generally involving an arrest, detention, a removal order from a judge and finally a flight out of the U.S. — can take months or years.
    Alyson Hurt, NPR, 7 Apr. 2025
Adjective
  • In the end, the finale may not have entirely redeemed some pacing issues and unwieldy sprawl, but ended strongly enough to make both seem minor in retrospect.
    Alison Herman, Variety, 7 Apr. 2025
  • Yet any swerve away from Trump’s blessed route risks ending with House Republicans pursuing a vote-of-no-confidence against Johnson, who has so far been impressively steady at the helm of a caucus that is unwieldy at best.
    Philip Elliott, Time, 7 Apr. 2025
Adjective
  • That dispute was patched over by an ungainly agreement, negotiated between the European Commission and the U.S. government.
    Henry Farrell, Foreign Affairs, 3 Apr. 2025
  • Examples imported from 1975 through 1985 had rather ungainly impact bumpers, so early, chrome-bumper cars are aesthetically more desirable.
    Robert Ross, Robb Report, 21 Feb. 2025
Adjective
  • The magic of blasting down a wall of water balanced on a few pounds of Styrofoam doesn’t typically translate to the rectangular page; too many efforts feel pompous, ponderous or preening.
    Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 14 Apr. 2025
  • Too often novels packed with this many ideas sacrifice emotion in favor of mounting a ponderous argument; Norlin instead writes visceral episodes that speak for themselves.
    Joumana Khatib, New York Times, 24 Mar. 2025

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Cumbrous.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cumbrous. Accessed 27 Apr. 2025.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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