adjective
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awkward because of size, weight, or shape
cumbersome baggage
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difficult because of extent or complexity
cumbersome accounts
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of cumbersome
First recorded in 1325–75, cumbersome is from the Middle English word cummyrsum. See cumber, -some 1
Explanation
You have to wrestle a bit with the longish word cumbersome; it's cumbersome, or kind of long and clumsy, to tumble out in a sentence. It's hard to use it gracefully. A "cumber" is something that slows you down, and though the words aren't related, "lumber" includes big pieces of heavy wood, which might slow down the person carrying them. Moving lumber is cumbersome, because it's a heavy and awkward job. Getting your laundry down the stairs or putting a Rottweiler in the bathtub can be cumbersome too.
Vocabulary lists containing cumbersome
Essential Academic Vocabulary for High School Students, List 2
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ACT Vocabulary List
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100 SAT words Beginning with "C"
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
He pointed to cumbersome regulations as well as the rising cost of machinery and fertiliser - trends that began before Trump returned to the White House.
From BBC ● Oct. 11, 2026
But a 2015 Government Accountability Office investigation noted impediments to their use: uncertainty about which government functions were “inherently federal” and therefore outside tribal authority, a cumbersome application process, and cost.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026
"We don't have a national health program. It's much more cumbersome to streamline these types of programs, even though we know they're beneficial," Finkelstein said.
From Barron's ● Jun. 15, 2026
Doctors can be dismissive of the information gleaned from an Apple Watch, and putting that data into electronic medical records is cumbersome when it is possible.
From MarketWatch ● May 28, 2026
The man had paused in the road and hoisted the wooden jiggeh higher on his back, shifting the cumbersome weight.
From "A Single Shard" by Linda Sue Park
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
