cumbersome

English

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈkʌmbəsəm/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈkʌmbɚsəm/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ʌmbə(ɹ)səm
• Hyphenation: cum‧ber‧some

Adjective

cumbersome (comparative more cumbersome, superlative most cumbersome)

1. Burdensome or hindering, as if a weight or drag; vexatious.
   • 1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter VII, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume III, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 54:

     "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.

2. Not easily managed or handled; awkward or clumsy.

   Cumbersome machines can endanger operators and slow down production.

   • 1958 November, “The Why and the Wherefore: South Eastern & Chatham Railway”, in Railway Magazine, page 809:

     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.

3. Hard, difficult, and demanding to handle or get around with.

   A slave’s work was as cumbersome as toiling on the fields, or in the mines.

4. Inert, lumbering, or slow in movement.

Synonyms

• cumbrous
• lumpish (obsolete)
• unwieldy
• See also Thesaurus:difficult

Derived terms

• cumbersomely
• cumbersomeness
• uncumbersome

Translations

burdensome or hindering, as if a weight or drag; vexatious; cumbrous

• Afrikaans: hinderlik, moeilik
• Bulgarian: тежък (bg) (težăk), обременителен (bg) (obremenitelen)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 繁瑣 / 繁琐 (zh) (fánsuǒ), 繁重 (zh) (fánzhòng)

• Dutch: hinderlijk (nl), lastig (nl), moeilijk (nl), moeizaam (nl), zwaar (nl)
• Dzongkha: ལྗིད་ཅན (ljid can)
• Finnish: vaivalloinen (fi), hankala (fi)
• French: encombrant (fr)
• Galician: pesado (gl), custoso, traballoso
• German: hinderlich, lästig, mühsam (de), beschwerlich (de)
• Hungarian: bumfordi (hu)
• Italian: ingombrante (it)
• Korean: 주체스럽다 (jucheseureopda), 불편하다 (ko) (bulpyeonhada)
• Macedonian: те́жок (téžok)
• Māori: hīrawerawe
• Polish: uciążliwy (pl) m
• Portuguese: incómodo (pt) (Portugal), incômodo (pt) (Brazil)
• Russian: обремени́тельный (ru) (obremenítelʹnyj), затрудни́тельный (ru) (zatrudnítelʹnyj), тя́гостный (ru) (tjágostnyj)
• Spanish: pesado (es), cargante (es), penoso (es), oneroso (es)
• Swedish: otymplig (sv)
• Turkish: külfetli (tr)

not easily managed or handled; awkward

• Afrikaans: onhandig, moeilik
• Bulgarian: неудобен (bg) (neudoben)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 笨重 (zh) (bènzhòng), 麻煩 / 麻烦 (zh) (máfan)

• Dutch: lastig (nl), moeilijk (nl), moeizaam (nl), onhandig (nl), zwaar (nl), omslachtig (nl)
• Finnish: kömpelö (fi), hankalasti käsiteltävä, hankalakäyttöinen
• Galician: aparatoso
• German: (objects) sperrig (de), (procedure) umständlich (de)
• Hungarian: nehézkes (hu)
• Irish: anásta
• Italian: difficile da usare, macchinoso (it)
• Macedonian: о́бемен (óbemen), неу́добен (neúdoben)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: uhåndterlig

• Plautdietsch: schwoafalich
• Polish: nieporęczny (pl) m, niewygodny (pl) m
• Portuguese: desajeitado (pt)
• Russian: громо́здкий (ru) (gromózdkij), неудо́бный (ru) (neudóbnyj)
• Spanish: aparatoso (es), abultado (es)
• Turkish: zor taşınır

hard, difficult, demanding to handle

• Afrikaans: moeilik
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 麻煩 / 麻烦 (maa⁴ faan⁴)

  Mandarin: 麻煩 / 麻烦 (zh) (máfan)

• Dutch: lastig (nl), moeilijk (nl), moeizaam (nl)
• Finnish: vaivalloinen (fi), rasittava (fi)
• French: pénible (fr), fastidieux (fr)
• German: schwierig (de)
• Hungarian: nehéz (hu)
• Italian: difficile (it), farraginoso (it), complesso (it)
• Polish: nieporęczny (pl) m
• Russian: сло́жный (ru) (slóžnyj), проблематичный (ru) (problematičnyj)
• Spanish: farragoso (es), dispendioso (es), engorroso (es)
• Turkish: zor (tr)

  Ottoman Turkish: دشوار (düşvâr)

inert, lumbering, slow in movement

• Dutch: log (nl), lastig (nl)
• Finnish: kömpelö (fi)
• French: lourd (fr), lent (fr)
• German: schwerfällig (de)
• Hungarian: lomha (hu)
• Italian: gravoso (it)
• Russian: объёмный (ru) (obʺjómnyj), грузный (ru) (gruznyj), объёмистый (ru) (obʺjómistyj)
• Turkish: ağır (tr), hantal (tr)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Italian: ^{(please verify)} scomodo (it)