adjective
-
awkward because of size, weight, or shape
cumbersome baggage
-
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
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
ACT Vocabulary List
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
100 SAT words Beginning with "C"
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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.
It can be an expensive and cumbersome process.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 17, 2026
Iran's top diplomat Abbas Araghchi, in an intervew with CNN published Sunday, described negotiating with Washington as "very cumbersome".
From Barron's • Jun. 7, 2026
Some half-a-dozen foreign tourists that the BBC spoke to also blamed longer and more cumbersome visa procedures and a hike in the five-year visa fees for the decline in visitor numbers.
From BBC • May 16, 2026
The libretto is cumbersome although full of dramatic promise and surprise and with a comic episode that prefigures “Falstaff.”
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 29, 2026
During the following 337 years before the Emancipation Proclamation ended slavery in 1863, an institution of enormous brutality was fashioned, its cumbersome legal underpinnings growing over the centuries.
From "The Best of Enemies" by Osha Gray Davidson
Definitions 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.
