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
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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
The ordinary secular mode of divorce in India is, like any other Indian legal proceeding, rather more cumbrous.
—Kevin D. Williamson, National Review, 27 Aug. 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
The ordinary secular mode of divorce in India is, like any other Indian legal proceeding, rather more cumbrous.
—Kevin D. Williamson, National Review, 27 Aug. 2017
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cumbrous
Adjective
-
These transitions, between past and present, are sometimes clumsy but sometimes genuinely sweet, as with an old letter that near-simultaneously is dictated and written, received and read, and finally rediscovered (and only partially understood) in the 21st century.—
Jessica Kiang,
Variety,
27 May 2025
-
Wildlife officials helped remove a black bear found hanging out in the kitchen of a Kentucky home after an impressive, yet clumsy break-in, photos show.—
Mitchell Willetts,
Kansas City Star,
25 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
-
There is also an awkward disconnect: Gmail’s recent encryption upgrade clashes with its AI upgrades.—
Zak Doffman,
Forbes.com,
25 May 2025
Adjective
-
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
-
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
Adjective
-
But as evening hours set in, the upbeat tone stood at odds with the unwieldy scene at the Capitol.—
Joey Cappelletti,
Chicago Tribune,
21 May 2025
-
There’s a lot of comedy in the unwieldy quadrilateral chest panel of Alex’s dress.—
Jackson McHenry,
Vulture,
6 May 2025
Adjective
-
That dispute was patched over by an ungainly agreement, negotiated between the European Commission and the U.S. government.—
Henry Farrell,
Foreign Affairs,
3 Apr. 2025
-
Examples imported from 1975 through 1985 had rather ungainly impact bumpers, so early, chrome-bumper cars are aesthetically more desirable.—
Robert Ross,
Robb Report,
21 Feb. 2025
Adjective
-
And, priced at just one penny per issue, the new paper was marketed to a much larger public than mercantile sheets like the ponderous Courier and Enquirer.—
Matthew Karp,
Harpers Magazine,
29 Apr. 2025
-
Stories and secrets In between chapters, Doom: The Dark Ages breaks things up with some extremely ponderous cutscenes featuring a number of religious and political factions, both demon and human, jockeying for position and control in an interdimensional war.—
ArsTechnica,
ArsTechnica,
9 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Cumbrous.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cumbrous. Accessed 3 Jun. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share