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
This year’s popular new music has been decidedly downbeat, with ballads and ponderous country songs topping the charts, Errico said.
—
Scottie Andrew, CNN Money, 3 Aug. 2025
Yet somehow, the IQ manages to look more streamlined than ponderous.
—Lawrence Ulrich, Robb Report, 16 July 2025
But despite those skillful trappings, the story soon feels ponderous.
—Dennis Harvey, Variety, 11 July 2025
The book’s languor can be ponderous and vintage, more 20th century than 21st.
—Daniel Felsenthal, Los Angeles Times, 9 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for ponderous
Scottie Andrew, CNN Money, 3 Aug. 2025
Yet somehow, the IQ manages to look more streamlined than ponderous.
—Lawrence Ulrich, Robb Report, 16 July 2025
But despite those skillful trappings, the story soon feels ponderous.
—Dennis Harvey, Variety, 11 July 2025
The book’s languor can be ponderous and vintage, more 20th century than 21st.
—Daniel Felsenthal, Los Angeles Times, 9 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for ponderous
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ponderous
Adjective
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Farming takes so long and is so boring, some of us said.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
11 Sep. 2025
-
The Clark County Fire Department said that tunnel boring operations had been temporarily halted at the site pending an ongoing accident investigation.—
Jessica Mathews,
Fortune,
11 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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In short, the massive popularity of its original anime ‘80s run wasn’t matched by its merchandising, and that’s something that is now being belatedly addressed.—
Ollie Barder,
Forbes.com,
12 Sep. 2025
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Musk has long said Starship’s sheer size and power could make brand-new types of missions possible, including carrying groups of humans to Mars and deploying massive new space telescopes.—
Jackie Wattles,
CNN Money,
12 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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The rubber sole is also important for clumsy gals like myself.—
Alyssa Grabinski,
PEOPLE,
8 Sep. 2025
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Camels seem slow, hippos clumsy, phoenixes unstable, lions lazy.—
Francois Botha,
Forbes.com,
7 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Biden, who ended his bid for a second White House term 107 days before last year's election, has been relatively slow to move on presidential library planning compared with most of his recent predecessors.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
7 Sep. 2025
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With Parkinson’s, doctors implant electrodes in the brain that produce electrical impulses to disrupt the abnormal signals that cause tremors, stiffness and slow movement.—
Jen Christensen,
CNN Money,
7 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Ketamine therapy’s most common short-term side effects are dizziness and nausea, but in extreme cases, long-term, heavy use of ketamine is associated with memory problems, gastrointestinal issues, and urinary tract infections, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse.—
Rachel Hale,
USA Today,
10 Sep. 2025
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When heavy rain occurs, there is a potential for flooding, particularly in areas that are low-lying or prone to floods.—
NC Weather Bot,
Charlotte Observer,
10 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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After a 21-year absence from Wrigley Field that ended earlier this summer, the weekend ceremonies seemed to signal the conclusion to an awkward, ongoing saga.—
Patrick Mooney,
New York Times,
8 Sep. 2025
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However, nothing negates the unique way in which people from the South embrace socializing with each other, which brings us to a potentially awkward situation that arises often enough and gives grief to even the most polite Southerners.—
Kaitlyn Yarborough,
Southern Living,
7 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Without a strict hierarchy or single decision-maker, our process can sometimes be slow, messy, or even tiring.—
Caterina De Biasio,
Vogue,
11 Sep. 2025
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The film is a mess, opaque in its argument and tiring in its effortful weirdness, and yet in its best moments has a hypnotic pull.—
Richard Lawson,
HollywoodReporter,
7 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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My wooden Slazenger made hitting winners difficult in the same way that my humming Selectric made rewriting sentences cumbersome.—
Thomas Swick
September 5,
Literary Hub,
5 Sep. 2025
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Second Amendment advocates say city-by-city ordinances would be cumbersome for permit holders commuting daily between jurisdictions.—
Mia Cathell,
The Washington Examiner,
4 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Ponderous.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ponderous. Accessed 14 Sep. 2025.
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