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V2 Vocabulary Building Dictionary


cumbersome

adjective

Definition: 1. unwieldy due to heaviness or bulk; 2. difficult or problematic due to complexity

Synonyms: ponderous, unwieldy, awkward, bulky, burdensome, clumsy, unmanageable, laborious

Antonyms: manageable, compact, convenient

Tips: The English word cumber began to be used in the fourteenth century. Cumber means "to weigh down with something heavy," either a literal object or a metaphorical problem of some kind, or, as a verb, "to hamper or burden with something." If something is cumbersome, it weighs you down and is probably more than you can handle.

Usage Examples:

Production improved by 200% when the company's cumbersome reporting procedure was finally streamlined. (unwieldy)

On graduating from college, Marie exchanged her large, cumbersome backpack for a small, elegant purse. (bulky, burdensome)

Certainly not considered an easy beach-read, the novel was long and cumbersome. (laborious, ponderous)

It was too cumbersome to try to carry all six boxes at one time, so I had to make several trips. (awkward, burdensome)


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