Cumbrous

Cumbrous

ˈkəmbrəs

Adjective

  • Literary term for cumbersome.
  • Large or heavy and therefore difficult to carry or use; unwieldy.
  • Slow or complicated and therefore inefficient.

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Example Sentences

“My piano is too cumbrous to travel with, so I have a small keyboard I can bring.”

“The AV display is cumbrous, so we need to have an extra hour for setup.”

“The computer lab has been completely renovated, but the old cumbrous equipment is in the back room if you need any parts.”

Word Origin

Uncertain, 14th century

Why this word?

“Cumbersome” is a recognizable word, but it’s, well, a bit cumbersome. The more poetic term for the same concept is “cumbrous” — it’s an adjective to describe something large and unwieldy, or perhaps so complicated that it becomes inefficient. In an obsolete sense of “causing trouble or annoyance,” the word appears in Milton’s “Paradise Lost”: “How I may be quit Fairest and easiest of this combrous charge.”

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Learn a new word Lachrymose

ˈlakrəˌmōs