ponderous

adjective

pon·​der·​ous ˈpän-d(ə-)rəs 

1

: of very great weight

2

: unwieldy or clumsy because of weight and size

3

: oppressively or unpleasantly dull : lifeless

ponderous prose

ponderously adverb

ponderousness noun

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The Serious History of Ponderous

Ponderous is ultimately from the Latin word for "weight," namely, "pondus" (which also gave us "ponder" and "preponderance" and is related to "pound"). We adopted "ponderous" with the literal sense "heavy" from Anglo-French ponderus in the 15th century, and early on we appended a figurative sense of "weighty," that is, "serious" or "important." But we stopped using the "serious" sense of "ponderous" around 200 years ago - perhaps because in the meantime we'd imposed on it a different figurative sense of "dull and lifeless," which we still use today.

Synonyms

• arid
• boring
• colorless
• drab
• dreary
• drudging
• dry
• dull
• dusty
• flat
• heavy
• ho-hum
• humdrum
• jading
• jejune
• leaden
• mind-numbing
• monochromatic
• monotonous
• numbing
• old
• pedestrian
• slow
• stale
• stodgy
• stuffy
• stupid
• tame
• tedious
• tiresome
• tiring
• uninteresting
• wearisome
• weary
• wearying

Choose the Right Synonym for ponderous

heavy, weighty, ponderous, cumbrous, cumbersome mean having great weight.

heavy implies that something has greater density or thickness than the average of its kind or class.

a heavy child for his age

weighty suggests having actual and not just relative weight.

a load of weighty boxes

ponderous implies having great weight because of size and massiveness with resulting great inertia.

ponderous elephants in a circus parade

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

Examples of ponderous in a Sentence

students struggling to stay awake during a ponderous lecture

fell asleep during the ponderous speech

Recent Examples on the Web

Plzen were no different, pressing well in phases, but rarely troubled by a United attack that passed the ball in a ponderous fashion and rarely attempted to run in behind. —Carl Anka, The Athletic, 13 Dec. 2024

But the seven-episode season, written entirely by Gunn and directed by Matt Peters and Sam Liu, is as playful and irreverent as most load-bearing franchise entrants are ponderous and weighted down by obligations to a larger narrative. —Alison Herman, Variety, 5 Dec. 2024

Acclimating to the vehicle’s size only takes minutes (numerous cameras aid low-speed maneuvering), and the 6000-pound SUV never feels intimidating or ponderous. —Michael Harley, Forbes, 28 Nov. 2024

These questions are left unasked in favor of broad, ponderous statements about good versus evil. —Marya E. Gates, IndieWire, 21 Nov. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Anglo-French ponderus, from Latin ponderosus, from ponder-, pondus weight

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

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Kids Definition

ponderous

adjective

pon·​der·​ous ˈpän-d(ə-)rəs 

1

: very heavy

2

: unpleasantly dull

fell asleep during the ponderous speech

ponderously adverb

ponderousness noun