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

It wasn’t until Tuesday, more than four weeks into the war, that Caine said it was safe enough to send lumbering B-52 bombers over Iranian territory.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 5, 2026

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

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

I prepare to jump into a roast contest when a roar suddenly sounds from the forest in front of us—and I think I see a huge form lumbering toward us.

From "Kwame Crashes the Underworld" by Craig Kofi Farmer

Related Words

• hulking
• ungainly
• unwieldy