cumbersome
/ˈkʌmbɚsəm/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.16 in modern English
18
Scrabble Score
10
Letters
3
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
Burdensome or hindering, as if a weight or drag; vexatious.
adj
Hard, difficult, and demanding to handle or get around with.
Example Sentences
- ""You can throw off your cumbersome disguise here," said Lucy, though the words could scarcely be distinguished, from her excessive agitation, Evelyn hastily caught up a cloak and cap laid ready for him, and a few minutes brought them into the sitting-room."
- "Cumbersome machines can endanger operators and slow down production."
- "The full title of the unified system, the South Eastern & London, Chatham & Dover Railways, was decidedly cumbersome, and for the sake of convenience was shortened to the South Eastern & Chatham Railway."
- "A slave’s work was as cumbersome as toiling on the fields, or in the mines."
Etymology
From Middle English cumbyrsum, cummyrsum; equivalent to cumber (“hindrance”) + -some. Compare encumber and incumbent.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈkʌmbɚsəm/
- British English: /ˈkʌmbəsəm/
Inflected Forms
more cumbersome (comparative)
most cumbersome (superlative)