Synonyms

encumber

American

[en-kuhm-ber] / ɛnˈkʌm bər /

Sometimes incumber

verb (used with object)

to impede or hinder; hamper.

Red tape encumbers all our attempts at action.
to block up or fill with what is obstructive or superfluous.

a mind encumbered with trivial and useless information.
to burden or weigh down.

She was encumbered with a suitcase and several packages.
to burden with obligations, debt, etc.

encumber British

/ ɪnˈkʌmbə /

verb

to hinder or impede; make difficult; hamper

encumbered with parcels after going shopping at Christmas
his stupidity encumbers his efforts to learn
to fill with superfluous or useless matter
to burden with debts, obligations, etc

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

encumberingly adverb
unencumbered adjective

Etymology

Origin of encumber

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English encombren, encombre, encomber, from Anglo-French, Middle French encombrer, equivalent to en- prefix + -combrer, verbal derivative of combre “dam, weir,” from early Medieval Latin combrus, from Gaulish comberos (unrecorded) “confluence, bringing together” (compare Quimper, in Brittany, from Breton Kemper ); en- ¹, com-, bear ¹

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023