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

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 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
  • Chris and Emilia’s conversation is suddenly interrupted by a premature explosion, which was caused by a clumsy member of a militia group called the Sons of Liberty.
    Scott Meslow, Vulture, 5 Sep. 2025
  • Tiny, slow and clumsy — these hatchlings are an easy snack for predators.
    Diaa Hadid, NPR, 5 Sep. 2025
Adjective
  • After a 21-year absence from Wrigley Field that ended earlier this summer, the weekend ceremonies seemed to signal the conclusion to an awkward, ongoing saga.
    Patrick Mooney, New York Times, 8 Sep. 2025
  • However, nothing negates the unique way in which people from the South embrace socializing with each other, which brings us to a potentially awkward situation that arises often enough and gives grief to even the most polite Southerners.
    Kaitlyn Yarborough, Southern Living, 7 Sep. 2025
Adjective
  • My wooden Slazenger made hitting winners difficult in the same way that my humming Selectric made rewriting sentences cumbersome.
    Thomas Swick September 5, Literary Hub, 5 Sep. 2025
  • Second Amendment advocates say city-by-city ordinances would be cumbersome for permit holders commuting daily between jurisdictions.
    Mia Cathell, The Washington Examiner, 4 Sep. 2025
Adjective
  • The cycle that Columbine helped kick off has evolved into a subculture that is dark, unwieldy, and durable.
    Charlie Warzel, The Atlantic, 4 Sep. 2025
  • Gleeson, Frei, Key, Gregg, and Young are very good, too (although many of their castmates get lost in the unwieldy ensemble).
    Judy Berman, Time, 3 Sep. 2025
Adjective
  • On land, hippos appear slow and ungainly.
    Francois Botha, Forbes.com, 7 Sep. 2025
  • An absolute charmer, The Tale of Silyan is an affecting look at the human-avian bond, with all its mysteries, warmth and ungainly practicalities.
    Sheri Linden, HollywoodReporter, 31 Aug. 2025
Adjective
  • The sculpture, unveiled by the artist Eric Fischl in 2000 and titled Soul in Flight, is worth pausing to look at, for its instructive power and its indictment of the ponderous slabs of metallurgical debris that litter other stadiums and arenas.
    Sally Jenkins, The Atlantic, 30 Aug. 2025
  • Much of the show is given to ponderous historical segues.
    Ruby Tandoh, New Yorker, 25 Aug. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Cumbrous.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cumbrous. Accessed 10 Sep. 2025.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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