burden
- noun
- /ˈbɜrdən/
- During the debate, the burden of my speech centered on the importance of education.
Examples
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It is the burden of this responsibility that will define you and who you choose to be.
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OK, that is the burden of my remarks.
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Well, I can see you don't fully appreciate... the incredible burden of my responsibility.
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An important question, however, is whether this burden will be evenly distributed across income classes.
Academic text (1992) -
The post-war generations, as I learned, struggled with their burden in a variety of ways.
Academic text (1992) -
My brother had shouldered that burden, allowing me to pursue my own selfish needs.
Fiction book (1994) -
We agree with Justice Scalia and hope we have borne that burden well in this article.
Academic text (2017) -
The burden of perfection.
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The burden of her argument was that we must take action to protect the environment.
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He expressed the burden of his writing as a need to inspire change in society.
Synonyms
Main idea in a piece of writing, art, or talk
The most important central part of something
The central idea or most important part of something
The main idea expressed in a speech or piece of writing
The main idea of something said or written
The main point of what someone says or writes
A main idea in a talk or report
The most important part of a problem or discussion
The main idea of a speech, book, or discussion
The main point someone makes in a discussion
The most important idea in a discussion or text
Compounds
- Offensive
The idea that white people must rule and civilize non-white people
How Central
Surface Forms
Etymology
Burden originally meant something you carry and comes from an old English word; it is related to the common verb bear 'to carry'. It also once named the repeating line in a song that 'carried' the music, so the 'burden' of a speech is the main idea it 'carries' through the talk.