to cumber

Examples

• All

• Cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou

  Fiction book (1996)

• But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, "Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone?"

  Fiction book (1996)

• The heavy backpack cumbered him as he climbed the steep hill.

• He felt cumbered by his worries, making it hard to focus on anything else.

Synonyms

R

to restrain

vsto cumber

86 4.6

Hold a person or thing so it cannot move freely

is wider, including passive obstruction and being weighed down rather than only control

H

to hamper

vsto cumber

47 4.2

To make it harder for someone or something to move forward

often implies an actual obstruction or a burden, not only slowed progress

E

to encumber

vsto cumber

9 7.6

To make it difficult for someone or something to act

also covers physical obstruction and the idea of being weighed down

L

to load down

vsto cumber

• Informal

1 4.2

To make someone or something carry too many heavy things

is broader, applying to obstruction or burden not only literal weight

C

to congest

vsto cumber

1 5.3

To block or fill a place so things cannot move through it

hinders mainly by crowding rather than by adding a burden or weight

B

to burthen

vsto cumber

• Archaic

9.9

To weigh down with a heavy load or worry

uses the same burden idea but in neutral modern wording as well

Antonyms

F

to facilitate

• Formal

187 4.9

To make a task or process easier and help it happen

How Burdensome

to immobilize

21 6.0

to obstruct

119 5.1

to hinder

75 3.6

to cumber

• Archaic

9.9

to hamper

47 4.2

inconvenience

107 4.3

Surface Forms

Etymology