Synonyms
Examples of burden in a Sentence
Ryan Hogg, Fortune Europe, 23 Nov. 2023
What burden does that put on someone coming forward?
—August Brown, Los Angeles Times, 21 Nov. 2023
Slashing government outlays will be a burden on Argentina’s poorest citizens.
—Kevin Simauchi, Fortune, 20 Nov. 2023
Recognizing the evidence that people over age 65, now a fifth of the American population, are not a burden on society or a drain on scarce resources.
—Clara Germani, The Christian Science Monitor, 17 Nov. 2023
And spouses can hold onto only a modest amount of income and assets, often leaving their children and grandchildren to shoulder some of the financial burden.
—Jordan Rau, Fortune Well, 16 Nov. 2023
That lack of access to affordable insurance will place a greater financial burden on residents in high-hazard areas, particularly low-income communities in which many people may not have the resources to relocate.
—Chelsea Harvey, Scientific American, 14 Nov. 2023
Prosecutors bear the burden of proving that the attack was due to Nancy Pelosi’s role as House Speaker, and that DePape intended to kidnap her after breaking into the lawmaker’s home.
—Hannah Wiley, Los Angeles Times, 14 Nov. 2023
This can create additional administrative burdens. 5.
—Matthew Erskine, Forbes, 13 Nov. 2023
Christopher Cruz, Rolling Stone, 11 Nov. 2023
The bill faced opposition from all 13 Senate Republicans and nine Senate Democrats, who argued that universal background checks would unfairly burden law-abiding gun owners.
—Silvia Foster-Frau, Washington Post, 26 Oct. 2023
Romney was too stiff, too much of a politician, to burdened by years of compromise.
—Alex Shephard, The New Republic, 26 Oct. 2023
The institutional response was that burdening businesses with smog regulations would be too costly.
—Patt Morrison, Los Angeles Times, 1 Oct. 2023
Oil prices rose after Saudi Arabia announced supply cuts, enriching energy producers and burdening most other companies and most consumers.
—Jeff Sommer, New York Times, 29 Sep. 2023
Teams are often burdened with jumbles of different KPIs that say different things, especially as operations become more complex.
—François Candelon, Fortune, 10 Nov. 2023
Over half of holiday shoppers expect to feel financially burdened this year, according to a Bankrate.com survey.
—Michelle Singletary, Washington Post, 25 Oct. 2023
Calculating that Hamas had never directly threatened the U.S. and burdened with other spying priorities, Washington ceded the responsibility to Israel, confident that its aggressive security services would detect any threat, the U.S. officials said.
—WSJ, 1 Nov. 2023
See More
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'burden.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Noun (1) and Verb
Middle English, from Old English byrthen; akin to Old English beran to carry — more at bear
Noun (2)
Middle English burdoun, from Anglo-French burdun a drone bass, of imitative origin
Noun (1)
before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a
Verb
1541, in the meaning defined above
Noun (2)
14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 2
Phrases Containing burden
Dictionary Entries Near burden
Cite this Entry
“Burden.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/burden. Accessed 1 Dec. 2023.
Copy Citation
Kids Definition
burden
2 of 2 nounNoun
Old English byrthen "load, burden"
Noun
an altered form of earlier bourdon "a refrain or chorus of a song," from Middle English burdoun (same meaning), from early French burdun "bass horn"
Medical Definition
burden
noun
Legal Definition
burden
noun
More from Merriam-Webster on burden
Nglish: Translation of burden for Spanish Speakers
Britannica English: Translation of burden for Arabic Speakers
Share