burden 1 of 3

noun (1)

ˈbər-dᵊn How to pronounce burden (audio)
Definition of burdennext
1
as in load
a mass or quantity of something taken up and carried, conveyed, or transported the early settlers often used horses to carry their burdens

Synonyms & Similar Words

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2
as in responsibility
something one must do because of prior agreement the burden of homework prevented the youngster from joining his friends at the game

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

burden

2 of 3

noun (2)

as in chorus
a part of a song or hymn that is repeated every so often had some trouble coming up with a burden for the song

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burden

3 of 3

verb

1
as in to load
to place a weight or burden on burdened the dog with a little backpack

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to trouble
to make sad refuses to let everyday problems burden her

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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 burden
Noun
When murder escalates from a scheme to action, her secret becomes an unbearable burden to carry. — Literary Hub, 2 Oct. 2026 When regulations begin to overlap, permitting and building are jeopardized through financial and practical burdens. — Bennett Lawson, Chicago Tribune, 2 Oct. 2026
Verb
Traffic burdens residents daily, and heavy rain keeps exposing the same stormwater weaknesses. — Miami Herald Staff, Miami Herald, 22 Sep. 2026 Children are often burdened with caregiving for a family member, creating additional stress in their lives. — Jennifer Bisram, CBS News, 21 Sep. 2026 See All Example Sentences for burden
Recent Examples of Synonyms for burden
  1. load
  2. responsibility
  3. chorus
  4. trouble
  5. loading
  6. obligation
  7. depress
  8. payload
Noun
  • Such truckers work load to load and often can’t raise rates when fuel prices spike, the way their larger competitors can.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 7 Oct. 2026
  • SpaceX is already running a massive load of Nvidia AI chips and has plans to add to it.
    — Seema Mody, CNBC, 7 Oct. 2026
Definition of load
Noun
  • At Marriott, 85% of employees say people are given significant responsibility, compared with 64% at a typical European workplace.
    — Ted Kitterman, Fortune, 8 Oct. 2026
  • Women’s mental well-being can be at risk due to a variety of factors, including unequal domestic responsibilities and physiological changes during the postpartum period, perimenopause and menopause.
    — Jennifer Weil, Footwear News, 8 Oct. 2026
Definition of responsibility
Noun
  • Where a chorus should hit, nearly everything drops out, leaving behind those drums to face off against the steady, impersonal rumble of a sub-bass.
    — Sadie Sartini Garner, Pitchfork, 4 Oct. 2026
  • Panels also featured decorations that included hearts, rainbows, sequins, a Star of David, a chef’s hat, a chorus line of dancers, teddy bears, and a panda.
    — René Ostberg, Encyclopedia Britannica, 2 Oct. 2026
Definition of chorus
Verb
  • And some Pac-12 teams emerging through the first half of the season could trouble the Broncos, such as Oregon State and Colorado State.
    — Shaun Goodwin, Idaho Statesman, 6 Oct. 2026
  • Lucie’s talented-but-troubled student, Susan Yi, writes fiction that resembles an accusation about Lucie.
    — Zain Khalid, Vulture, 1 Oct. 2026
Definition of trouble
Noun
  • In a new Story on the same day Ross was carb loading in the City of Light, Kendrick thanked followers who stood by her.
    — Madeleine Marr, Miami Herald, 6 Oct. 2026
  • The company’s website describes Nucleus as providing humanoid labor to factories by the hour, with current applications including parts picking, shelf loading, product handling, and cart transport.
    — Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 2 Oct. 2026
Definition of loading
Noun
  • Saada has threatened before to reduce the group’s investment during tense negotiations over windowing rules and Canal+ was granted an earlier access to movies after their theatrical run in exchange for its substantial investment obligations.
    — Elsa Keslassy, Variety, 5 Oct. 2026
  • Any business that outsources development, operations or customer support to third parties should also assume that obligation follows the data, not the org chart.
    — Abhik Biswas, Forbes.com, 5 Oct. 2026
Definition of obligation
Verb
  • The throuple moved into faculty housing, where Lakofski withered, depressed by life in a conventional apartment.
    — Adriane Quinlan, Curbed, 30 Sep. 2026
  • Growth in the world’s second-largest economy softened to its slowest in more than three years in the second quarter, as a multiyear property downturn continued to depress consumer demand and investment in real estate and infrastructure.
    — Anniek Bao, CNBC, 28 Sep. 2026
Definition of depress
Noun
  • Five of those payloads are microsatellites for South Korea's nascent New-space Earth Observation Satellite Constellation for National Safety (NEONSAT) network.
    — Mike Wall, Space.com, 7 Oct. 2026
  • This gives it the largest conventional payload capacity in the US Air Force fleet.
    — Georgina Jedikovska, Interesting Engineering, 5 Oct. 2026
Definition of payload

Browse Nearby Words

burbling
burden
burdened
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Cite this Entry

“Burden.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/burden. Accessed 8 Oct. 2026.

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