cumbersome

Tweet

adjective cum·ber·some \ˈkəm-bər-səm\

: hard to handle or manage because of size or weight

: complicated and hard to do

: long and difficult to read, say, etc.

Full Definition of CUMBERSOME

1

dial :  burdensome, troublesome

2

:  unwieldy because of heaviness and bulk

3

:  slow-moving :  ponderous

— cum·ber·some·ly adverb

— cum·ber·some·ness noun

True or False? Play our trivia
game for a fun break. »

Examples of CUMBERSOME

1. The application process is cumbersome and time-consuming.
2. Her expanded job title is really cumbersome.
3. Squad members, already decked out in cumbersome chemical suits, put on masks and rubber gloves. —Ray Wilkinson, Newsweek, 11 Mar. 1991
4. He got the approval of the higher-ups, but the course was scuttled by members of his own department, who devised all kinds of cumbersome, silly requirements and prerequisites. —Alice Munro, New Yorker, 20 Mar. 1989
5. He cut some segments of the 2" pine but discovered that … a cumbersome system of braces would be needed to hold the sides straight. —John Updike, Couples, 1968

Origin of CUMBERSOME

(see ¹cumber)

First Known Use: 1535

Related to CUMBERSOME

Synonyms

awkward, bunglesome, clumsy, clunky, cranky, cumbrous, ponderous, ungainly, unhandy, unwieldy

Antonyms

handy

Related Words

uncontrollable, unmanageable; bulky, dinosaurian, dinosauric, elephantine, heavy, hulking, massive; impracticable, impractical

Near Antonyms

functional, practicable, practical, serviceable, useful

See Synonym Discussion at heavy