1
as in boring
causing weariness, restlessness, or lack of interest
fell asleep during the ponderous speech
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in massive
having great weight
those ponderous pachyderms more commonly known as elephants
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3
as in clumsy
difficult to use or operate especially because of size, weight, or design
lugged a ponderous movie camera all over China
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of ponderous
Too often novels packed with this many ideas sacrifice emotion in favor of mounting a ponderous argument; Norlin instead writes visceral episodes that speak for themselves.
—
Joumana Khatib, New York Times, 24 Mar. 2025
With their colossal bodies and ponderous feet, elephants have never struck me as masters of hide-and-seek.
—Chris Schalkx, Travel + Leisure, 16 Mar. 2025
The song drips with pungent blue notes, but Flack — singing over a jazz combo at a ponderous tempo — finds a way to luxuriate in the melody, bending the lyrics enough to make any fan perk up.
—Ben Sisario, New York Times, 24 Feb. 2025
Yunan The Bottom Line Not without ponderous moments, but poetic and affecting.
—David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 25 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for ponderous
Joumana Khatib, New York Times, 24 Mar. 2025
With their colossal bodies and ponderous feet, elephants have never struck me as masters of hide-and-seek.
—Chris Schalkx, Travel + Leisure, 16 Mar. 2025
The song drips with pungent blue notes, but Flack — singing over a jazz combo at a ponderous tempo — finds a way to luxuriate in the melody, bending the lyrics enough to make any fan perk up.
—Ben Sisario, New York Times, 24 Feb. 2025
Yunan The Bottom Line Not without ponderous moments, but poetic and affecting.
—David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 25 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for ponderous
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ponderous
Adjective
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Belief that your institution is exempt from the hard, functional and often boring parts of the job leads to a slow decline.—
Carl Anka,
New York Times,
22 May 2025
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One ideal that rung loudly at the presentation was that these students were unafraid to dream–rather than send designs down the runway that felt truncated, trendy or downright boring, the student designers chose an opposite route.—
Robyn Mowatt,
Essence,
20 May 2025
Adjective
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The massive undersea volcano reaches more than 3,600 feet above the seabed is located 300 miles offshore.—
Elizabeth Weise,
USA Today,
17 May 2025
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The bad news lands while Abel Tesfaye, playing himself, is backstage at a massive stadium, just moments before showtime.—
Madison Bloom,
Pitchfork,
16 May 2025
Adjective
-
Where the real Colin and Emma have trouble getting much further than a clumsy hug after a putt-putt date, some of the acting couples have increased their intimacy levels with breathtaking speed.—
Scott Tobias,
Vulture,
12 May 2025
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Word's document comparison interface is also clumsy and confusing compared with FineReader's.—
PC Magazine,
PC Magazine,
30 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
France One of my upcoming podcast guests, Mary Alice Duff, decided to swap the hustle of life in Philadelphia for the slower pace of southern France.—
Cepee Tabibian,
CNBC,
18 May 2025
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Combs Grows Frustrated Combs was animated during Ventura’s cross-examination, appearing somewhat frustrated with the tedious, slow pace that his attorney was taking when quizzing Ventura.—
Cheyenne Roundtree,
Rolling Stone,
18 May 2025
Adjective
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Terra cotta boxes are attractive but heavy once filled with soil, so these require adequate support to hold their weight.—
Arricca Elin SanSone,
Southern Living,
23 May 2025
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After the heavy Clasico defeat at Montjuic that effectively ended the title race, The Athletic reported that Madrid were not ruling out reinforcements (or sales) in other positions too, and that includes midfield.—
Mario Cortegana,
New York Times,
22 May 2025
Adjective
-
Eddie's real parentage is revealed, Maeve is outed, Kevin catches up with Rusby, Bella brokers her deal, and Alice attends an awkward Harrigan dinner.—
Matt Cabral,
EW.com,
26 May 2025
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There is also an awkward disconnect: Gmail’s recent encryption upgrade clashes with its AI upgrades.—
Zak Doffman,
Forbes.com,
25 May 2025
Adjective
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Of course, all that excitement does get tiring after a while, and the dogs in side B eventually wind down for a brief nap.—
Jason D. Greenblatt,
MSNBC Newsweek,
2 Apr. 2025
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At-home blowouts are hard; even when armed with the right tutorials and top-of-the-line tools, all the maneuvering gets tiring quickly.—
Kylee McGuigan,
Vogue,
12 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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Their goal is also to reduce stress for breastfeeding parents and avoid the cumbersome use of pre- and post-feed weighing of infants.—
Melissa Willets,
Parents,
26 May 2025
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Although effective, such tests are both expensive and cumbersome and probably not efficient enough to handle the growing need for early diagnosis.—
Paul Smaglik,
Discover Magazine,
20 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Ponderous.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ponderous. Accessed 30 May. 2025.
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