cumbrous
Americanadjective
Other Word Forms
- cumbrously adverb
- cumbrousness noun
- noncumbrous adjective
- noncumbrously adverb
- noncumbrousness noun
- uncumbrous adjective
- uncumbrously adverb
- uncumbrousness noun
Etymology
Origin of cumbrous
First recorded in 1325–75, cumbrous is from the Middle English word cumberous. See cumber, -ous
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
It turns out that digital television, originally meant as a convenient alternative to clunky cable, can be just as knotty and cumbrous as the business it’s trying to replace.
From New York Times • Mar. 9, 2021
The Road Home Program, a state program supposed to help rebuild, was cumbrous and slow, and grants often didn’t cover the cost of repairs.
From Washington Times • Sep. 1, 2017
This cumbrous and costly apparatus kept the field to itself for some time.”
From Salon • Feb. 23, 2014
John Gielgud, playing Othello at Stratford in 1961, was less happy, complaining that Hall's costumes were "beautiful but cumbrous" and that the elaborate production stalled while Zeffirelli leafed through "his damned press cuttings".
From The Guardian • Jun. 24, 2010
“Mordred,” be asked with a cumbrous accent “Mordred, wha’ have ye left Sir Gareth?”
From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
