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
Relevance
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 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
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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cumbrous
Adjective
-
The historic victory, the nation’s first ever in the World Cup, was overshadowed when the midfielder injured his leg in gruesome fashion following a clumsy challenge from Qatar’s Assim Madibo.
-
Better systems beat willpower as clumsy Chiron enters your 6th House of Work and Health, reminding you that mistakes teach faster than shame.
Adjective
-
Your 2nd House of Finances hits an awkward angle as the nurturing Moon quincunxes ambitious Mars in your 9th House of Travel and Learning.
-
But that doesn’t mean there still aren’t some awkward moments.
Adjective
-
And though there are no tariffs imposed on British goods entering the EU, there is a raft of non-tariff barriers, such as cumbersome customs paperwork, border certifications, and visa restrictions.
-
With a Brush Head Heavy electric vacuums can be extremely cumbersome to use on furniture, and their handy attachments often don’t cover enough fabric at a time.
Adjective
-
The anxieties, the mess, the whole unwieldy tapestry of the celebration has nothing at all to do with me.
-
An organization with the unwieldy name of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing — NASCAR — was born.
Adjective
-
Instead of an ungainly pile of pillows, modern buyers prefer to let the materials sing.
-
Seydoux tromps through the film with a masculine heaviness — a sense of dysphoria that translates to her character’s ungainly bearing.
Adjective
-
His serious, sometimes ponderous style is most vividly on display in Son of Saul, which uses the nervy technique of keeping the camera very close on one prisoner as hell is unleashed in the periphery.
-
Director Stanley Kubrick’s sci-fi epic remains open to many different interpretations and may seem ponderous to modern audiences.
Cite this Entry
“Cumbrous.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cumbrous. Accessed 28 Jun. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
