Cumbersome Meaning
/ˈkʌmbəsəm/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
adjBurdensome or hindering, as if a weight or drag; vexatious.
adjNot easily managed or handled; awkward; clumsy.
Sentence Examples
English is like a gated community; access is possible but cumbersome.
Government red tape has made the process very cumbersome and hard to understand.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The old suitcase was ____ to carry because it lacked wheels and had a broken handle.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
English is like a gated community access is possible but ____.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English cumbyrsum, cummyrsum; equivalent to cumber (“hindrance”) + -some. Compare encumber and incumbent.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
""You can throw off your cumbersome disguise here," said Lucy, though the words could scarcely be distinguished, from her excessive agitation, Evelyn hastily caught up a cloak and cap laid ready for him, and a few minutes brought them into the sitting-room."
— 1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter VII, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume III, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 54:
"The full title of the unified system, the South Eastern & London, Chatham & Dover Railways, was decidedly cumbersome, and for the sake of convenience was shortened to the South Eastern & Chatham Railway."
— 1958 November 26, “The Why and the Wherefore: South Eastern & Chatham Railway”, in Railway Magazine, page 809:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The old suitcase was ____ to carry because it lacked wheels and had a broken handle.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
English is like a gated community access is possible but ____.