cumbersome

C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ˈkʌmbɚsəm/ UK /ˈkʌmbəsəm/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

adj
large or heavy and therefore difficult to handle; unwieldy

The cumbersome filing system slowed every transaction.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · large or heavy and... unwieldy bulky awkward clumsy burdensome ponderous

Opposites

handy manageable convenient lightweight

Word family

Derived forms cumbersomelycumbersomeness

Related forms cumber encumber encumbrance

Etymology

From Middle English cumber ('to hinder, burden') + the adjectival suffix -some; ultimately from Old French encombrer ('to obstruct').

encombrer Old French

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities

External links

# cumbersome

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /ˈkʌmbɚsəm/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈkʌmbəsəm/

## Meanings
1. large or heavy and therefore difficult to handle; unwieldy

## Examples
- The cumbersome filing system slowed every transaction.

## Synonyms
- unwieldy
- bulky
- awkward
- clumsy
- burdensome
- ponderous

## Antonyms
- handy
- manageable
- convenient
- lightweight

## Derived Forms
- cumbersomely
- cumbersomeness

## Related Forms
- cumber
- encumber
- encumbrance

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: encombrer

## Etymology
From Middle English cumber ('to hinder, burden') + the adjectival suffix -some; ultimately from Old French encombrer ('to obstruct').

## AI Etymology
Cumbersome is from Middle English cumber ('to hinder, burden') + the adjectival suffix -some; ultimately from Old French encombrer ('to obstruct'). Important recorded forms include encombrer (Old French). Morphologically, the word is a built form whose named elements carry part of the historical sense. The current sense covers large or heavy and therefore difficult to handle; unwieldy. The wider family includes derived forms such as cumbersomely and cumbersomeness and related words such as cumber, encumber, and encumbrance.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities

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