cumbersome

Definition

Burdensome or hindering, as if a weight or drag; vexatious.

Etymology

From Middle English cumbyrsum, cummyrsum; equivalent to cumber (“hindrance”) + -some. Compare encumber and incumbent.

Example Sentences

• ""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."
• "Cumbersome machines can endanger operators and slow down production."
• "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."