lumbering

American  

[luhm-ber-ing] / ˈlʌm bər ɪŋ /

noun

1. the trade or business of cutting and preparing lumber.

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lumbering ¹ British  

/ ˈlʌmbərɪŋ /

adjective

1. awkward in movement

2. moving with a rumbling sound

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lumbering ² British  

/ ˈlʌmbərɪŋ /

noun

1. the business or trade of cutting, transporting, preparing, or selling timber

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Other Word Forms

• lumberingness
  noun
• unlumbering
  adjective
• lumberingly
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of lumbering

First recorded in 1765–75; lumber ¹ + -ing ¹

Explanation

Someone who's lumbering moves in a heavy, ungainly way. The big, lumbering players on a football team tend to play defensive positions like lineman. You might normally skip lightly down the street, but when you're carrying two big suitcases and wearing a heavy backpack, you'll be a lumbering figure slowly making your way along the sidewalk. Your toy poodle might move easily, while your giant 150-pound Mastiff is a lumbering, drooling companion. This adjective comes from the verb lumber, from the earlier lomere, which has a Scandinavian root.

Example Sentences

Costing A$136,000, the artwork represents a mythical megafauna, with the sculpture's designers inspired by an ancient marsupial ant-eater found in local caves that was "massive, lumbering and fascinating".

From BBC • Mar. 25, 2026

Remember, every one of these nimble little sporters you see on the road is displacing a larger, more lumbering alternative that could be drifting into your lane.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 6, 2026

Part of Melissa's punch stems from its slow pace: it is lumbering along slower than most people walk, at just three miles per hour or less.

From Barron's • Oct. 27, 2025

And for decades, every attempt to create legal access has foundered on the rocky shoals of property rights and lumbering bureaucracy.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 26, 2025

Looking at them now you would scarcely guess that these odd and lumbering beasts could cause great rancor and bitterness, but they did.

From "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson

Related Words

• hulking
• ungainly
• unwieldy