1
as in shambling
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in plodding
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in shuffling
to move heavily or clumsily
the elephant lumbered through the jungle
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in stumbling
to proceed or act clumsily or ineffectually
the novel's plot lumbers to its predictable conclusion after 500 long pages
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
4
as in loading
to place a weight or burden on
preparations that will lumber the expedition with unnecessary equipment and supplies
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of lumbering
Sam Farmer, Los Angeles Times, 13 Dec. 2024
The department’s internal deliberative process is just as lumbering and conservative, with too many layers of approval and authority.
—William J. Burns, Foreign Affairs, 27 Mar. 2019
For a while, the team sits together in the truck, watching in companionable silence as the lumbering giants disappear, one by one, into the trees.
—Tommy Trenchard, NPR, 8 Dec. 2024
The few fans who showed up were cheering the massive young man lumbering toward the scorer’s table to check into the game against Cal State Fullerton for the first time.
—Ben Bolch, Los Angeles Times, 23 Nov. 2024
Its lumbering, gross-out finale, in particular, is a problem, not so much blasting past the limits of good taste as grinding away at achieving bad taste.
—Stephanie Zacharek, TIME, 29 Sep. 2024
Verb
But weirdly, the lumbering 12-6 victory over the 49ers might wind up being far more valuable than the gaudy 44-42 triumph over Buffalo last Sunday.
—Sam Farmer, Los Angeles Times, 13 Dec. 2024
The department’s internal deliberative process is just as lumbering and conservative, with too many layers of approval and authority.
—William J. Burns, Foreign Affairs, 27 Mar. 2019
For a while, the team sits together in the truck, watching in companionable silence as the lumbering giants disappear, one by one, into the trees.
—Tommy Trenchard, NPR, 8 Dec. 2024
The few fans who showed up were cheering the massive young man lumbering toward the scorer’s table to check into the game against Cal State Fullerton for the first time.
—Ben Bolch, Los Angeles Times, 23 Nov. 2024
Its lumbering, gross-out finale, in particular, is a problem, not so much blasting past the limits of good taste as grinding away at achieving bad taste.
—Stephanie Zacharek, TIME, 29 Sep. 2024
Recent Examples of Synonyms for lumbering
Verb
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But the $12 billion decline in his fortune has more to do with asset shuffling than stock price movement.—
Julie Goldenberg,
Forbes,
21 Dec. 2024
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James has been shuffling back and forth between the NBA and the G League.—
Benedict Cosgrove,
Newsweek,
19 Dec. 2024
Verb
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In the driveway of a rundown house, two soldiers work quickly under the glow of headlamps, loading weapons from a shed into the back of a battered truck.—
Brian Mann,
NPR,
24 Dec. 2024
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Court records show Corcoran asked Nieto's then 7-year-old daughter Melanie to stay in an upstairs bedroom before loading a rifle, a Ruger Mini-14 semi-automatic, and going to the living room, where his brother and his friends were watching TV.—
Marina Johnson,
The Courier-Journal,
18 Dec. 2024
Adjective
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Eliminating the department altogether would be a cumbersome task, which likely would require an act of Congress.—
Annie Ma and Collin Binkley,
Los Angeles Times,
12 Mar. 2025
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The team concluded that based on the spinal column, the combination of a great white build with the megalodon's much longer length would have simply proved too cumbersome.—
Jennifer Ouellette,
Ars Technica,
9 Mar. 2025
Verb
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After easily stopping Thanos and Nam-gyu from curb-stomping Ming-gyu at lunch, In-ho earns a lot of people’s respect.—
Jennifer Zhan,
Vulture,
26 Dec. 2024
-
In a similar vein, Malloy’s musical score is almost anonymously eclectic — wistful ballads, stomping pop, a smattering of EDM — but threaded through with enough strains of Russian folk and klezmer to suggest a sense of place.—
Houman Barekat,
New York Times,
23 Dec. 2024
Verb
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Ordinary Americans also work for league media arms such as the NFL Network, which last year conducted layoffs, or their partners, including regional sports networks that are struggling to keep pace.—
Michael McCann,
Sportico.com,
6 Jan. 2025
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California and Stanford ventured to the opposite coast for the first time, both struggling in the Eastern time zone.—
Sabreena Merchant,
The Athletic,
6 Jan. 2025
Verb
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Stopping this practice would go a long way to make college more affordable without burdening taxpayers.—
Paul Weinstein Jr.,
Forbes,
22 Dec. 2024
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This goal—and state—does not include divulging unnecessary personal information or burdening your team with worries and decisions that are yours to handle.—
Expert Panel®,
Forbes,
13 Dec. 2024
Verb
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Keep in mind, most places charge for filling up balloons, so make sure to inquire about that.—
Anna Halkidis,
Parents,
4 Jan. 2025
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Self, Kansas’ 22nd-year basketball coach — whose Jayhawks fell to West Virginia 62-61 on New Year’s Eve at Allen Fieldhouse — suffered a nasty fall while filling his car with fuel at a West 6th Street gas station in Lawrence on the morning of New Year’s Day.—
Gary Bedore,
Kansas City Star,
3 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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Because both actors look like lumpish proletarian versions of Ingmar Bergman stars — Alma Pöysti, radiant yet benumbed, plays Ansa like a dish-towel Bibi Andersson, and Jussi Vatanen could be the schlump brother of Max von Sydow (with a dollop of Ryan Gosling).—
Owen Gleiberman,
Variety,
23 May 2023
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Their bodies range from eely, jawless lampreys to flattened flounders to huge, lumpish ocean sunfish.—
Bob Holmes,
Discover Magazine,
21 May 2018
Cite this Entry
“Lumbering.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/lumbering. Accessed 30 Mar. 2025.
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