Synonyms of cumbrous

cumbrous

adjective

ˈkəm-b(ə-)rəs 

as in clumsy

difficult to use or operate especially because of size, weight, or design

it took two people to haul the cumbrous machine into the garage

Synonyms & Similar Words

• clumsy
• awkward
• cumbersome
• unwieldy
• ungainly
• ponderous
• clunky
• heavy
• unhandy
• impractical
• cranky
• bulky
• unmanageable
• massive
• bunglesome
• uncontrollable
• impracticable
• elephantine
• dinosauric
• hulking
• dinosaurian

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• practical
• useful
• functional
• handy
• practicable
• serviceable

Synonym Chooser

How does the adjective cumbrous differ from other similar words?

Some common synonyms of cumbrous are cumbersome, heavy, ponderous, and weighty. While all these words mean "having great weight," 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

When could heavy be used to replace cumbrous?

The synonyms heavy and cumbrous are sometimes interchangeable, but heavy implies that something has greater density or thickness than the average of its kind or class.

a heavy child for his age

Where would ponderous be a reasonable alternative to cumbrous?

While in some cases nearly identical to cumbrous, ponderous implies having great weight because of size and massiveness with resulting great inertia.

ponderous elephants in a circus parade

In what contexts can weighty take the place of cumbrous?

The meanings of weighty and cumbrous largely overlap; however, weighty suggests having actual and not just relative weight.

a load of weighty boxes

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of cumbrous

Although the novel’s center does not quite hold, O’Farrell’s emotional intelligence — the heart and heat of her characters — braces this sometimes unwieldy chronicle of a nation that has been subject to cumbrous historic agonies. — Rachel Vorona Cote, Vulture, 2 June 2026

There were three good reasons to abandon the Clean Power Plan, and EPA administrator Scott Pruitt cited two of them in his decision, announced Monday, to rescind the cumbrous carbon dioxide rule. — The Editors, National Review, 9 Oct. 2017

The Road Home Program, a state program supposed to help rebuild, was cumbrous and slow, and grants often didn’t cover the cost of repairs. — Washington Post, 1 Sep. 2017