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
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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
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
-
Even the basic details of the situation can sound like the clumsy plot of some apocalyptic thriller.—
Simon Shuster,
Time,
23 Oct. 2025
-
An exceptionally clumsy device.—
Mark Phelan,
Freep.com,
23 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Frederick Wherry, Kristin Seefeldt, and Anthony Alvarez examine the strategies potential lenders use to make these interactions less awkward.—
JSTOR Daily,
JSTOR Daily,
27 Oct. 2025
-
Talk about awkward reunions at unlikely places, if this does happen.—
Lizzie Lanuza,
StyleCaster,
26 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Maintaining the tugboat became cumbersome, and three Zizian members opted to move into box trucks before squatting in a Bay Area trailer lot owned by Curtis Lind, then age 80, a former shipworker and grandfather of four.—
Mia Cathell,
The Washington Examiner,
20 Oct. 2025
-
Film cameras are a little bulky, Quigley says, and even digital cameras are more cumbersome to carry around than a sleek smartphone.—
Liz Regalia,
Parents,
20 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
Choose open industrial shelves Insert some industrial wire shelving units to stock full of garden tools or unwieldy seasonal items like holiday decor.—
Michelle Mastro,
Architectural Digest,
23 Oct. 2025
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Education Department officials blame the prior administration for the unwieldy state of the federal student loan system.—
Danielle Douglas-Gabriel The Washington Post,
Arkansas Online,
19 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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When her rival, Poot’s Thea, arrives underdressed, Hedda forces her into a hideous frock with fussy bows and an ungainly skirt.—
Amy Nicholson,
Twin Cities,
23 Oct. 2025
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But the show never recaptures that energy, and what follows rapidly devolves into an ungainly blob of franchise-building obligation.—
Nicholas Quah,
Vulture,
22 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
The boogie-woogie vibe instilled by Federici’s jangly piano pegs it as a pool hall hit rather than the headphones-listening and ponderous nature of the original.—
Melissa Ruggieri,
USA Today,
24 Oct. 2025
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Gopnik credits Kleinschmidt with considerable, if ponderous, insight laced with anecdotes, often inappropriately intimate, about his many famous literary and artistic patients.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
20 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Cumbrous.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cumbrous. Accessed 29 Oct. 2025.
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