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

• lumberingly
  adverb
• lumberingness
  noun
• unlumbering
  adjective

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

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

If Europe can’t concentrate spending, its startups will struggle to grow or shake up the continent’s lumbering military sector as U.S. startups are doing in Washington, say investors and founders.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 24, 2025

Through literary references and tidbits of history alongside descriptions of dazzling biology, Rundell conjures a parade of swimming, crawling, flapping, lumbering life.

From Salon • Dec. 31, 2024

Cal stood smiling in the dark for he thought of Tom Meek lumbering up, saying, “Hello, Cal. What you up to?”

From "East of Eden" by John Steinbeck

Related Words

• hulking
• ungainly
• unwieldy