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

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

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

Sure enough, a couple of brown bears were lumbering in the meadow a few hundred feet away, their coats gleaming in the starlight.

From "The Son of Neptune" by Rick Riordan

Related Words

• hulking
• ungainly
• unwieldy