Skip to main content
laden

laden

38 4.8
Full of heavy things, for example a suitcase or a table of food
  • adjective
  • /ˈleɪdən/
translation icon : cargado
  • Her arms were laden with groceries after her trip to the store.
  • heavily laden
  • laden with fruit
  • a laden cart

There was no port, no city and no gold laden streams.

Examples

  • This thing is just laden with fruit, so that's really nice.

  • Burt and Heather dash out onto the roof, laden with weapons, ammo boxes, and their CB radio.

    Fiction book (1990)
  • When the time came, the laden coffin had to be moved into place.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • Servants took the soup bowls, replacing them with plates laden with meat and vegetables.

    Fiction book (1994)
  • The sediments in the harbor are laden with PCBs and heavy metals.

    Academic text (1994)
  • Warm seasonal monsoon winds from India, laden with moisture, rise to cross the Himalayas.

    Academic text (1995)
  • Much of the fertile land remains idle, still laden with landmines in the aftermath of war.

    Academic text (1998)
  • A strong wind whirls the snowflakes around the laden branches of the firs.

    Fiction book (1993)
  • "We have stopped here to buy?" Bolynthos scowled and waved a hand laden with bracelets and rings.

    Fiction book (1995)
  • The truck was laden with boxes ready for delivery.

Synonyms

heavy
vsladen
220 1.0

Full of a large amount of something and bending under it

is about holding a large amount not only physical weight
packed with
vsladen
70 2.5

Full of many people or things

suggests fullness in quantity rather than physical heaviness
loaded down
vsladen
1 4.6

Having too much work or responsibility to manage

also applies to being filled with things as well as burdens
heavy-laden
vsladen
5.5

Carrying a large load, for example snow on branches

is about being filled with a large amount generally
loaded
vsladen
2.6

Full of things so it is heavy or crowded

often means full in amount rather than heavy in weight
burdened
vsladen
4.3

Carrying a heavy weight that makes moving slow or hard

emphasizes having a large amount rather than the felt weight

Antonyms

1 2.1

With very little luggage when travelling

Not carrying heavy things

Compounds

1 6.5

Weighed down by worry or responsibility

Carrying a large load, for example snow on branches

How Loaded

overloaded
3 4.2
laden
38 4.8
loaded
2.6
light
1 2.1
empty
1.0

Surface Forms

laden positive

Morphology

laden = lade (opaque) = lade + en

The form is historically the past participle of the relatively rare verb 'lade', so the meaning is not obvious to many modern learners from the base alone.

Etymology

Laden comes from an old English verb hladan meaning 'to load' and is the same idea as the common word load, so a laden suitcase is heavy because it is 'loaded' with things.