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cumbersomely

cumbersomely

7.7
In an awkward, slow way that makes things difficult
  • adverb
  • /ˈkʌmbərsəmli/
translation icon : torpemente
  • The old computer operates cumbersomely, taking forever to complete simple tasks.

Examples

  • Perhaps this would have been clearer had I called Pieris, more cumbersomely, an "unremark-upon-able hybrid."

    Academic text (2011)
  • He moves cumbersomely, has emphysema, and a bit of a humpback, and the slack look of a plump man who lost weight because his doctor told him to.

    Fiction book (1990)
  • Cumbersomely keeping his grip on the leaden, staring child, Nelson steps toward the bed and sets a folded copy of the News-Press on the chrome-edged table already holding the water glass, the telephone, and the little brown bottle of nitroglycerin.

    Fiction book (1990)
  • Its sole purpose was to dig itself into the earth, slowly, cumbersomely, relentlessly, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, three hundred and sixty-five days a year, processing coal as it went, eating, gnawing, wheezing, and clanking away with a deafening sound.

    Fiction book (1998)
  • He struggled cumbersomely to carry the heavy boxes up the narrow stairs.

  • She organized the event cumbersomely, forgetting essential steps along the way.

Synonyms

inefficiently
vscumbersomely
3 4.8

In a way that wastes time or money

is awkward or difficult rather than only wasteful
cumbrously
vscumbersomely
  • Archaic
9.9

In a slow, awkward way because something is heavy or hard to move

is awkward and inefficient without implying heaviness
burdensomely
vscumbersomely
8.9

In a way that makes something hard to do or bear

is awkward or inefficient rather than mainly causing burden
onerously
vscumbersomely
  • Formal
8.6

In a way that causes a lot of extra work or trouble

is awkward or difficult rather than emphasizing heavy obligation
lumpily
vscumbersomely
7.2

In a heavy, clumsy way that makes movement feel awkward

is awkward or inefficient in general, not only uneven or clumsy

Antonyms

1.0

Without much effort

173 2.3

In an easy, calm way without problems or embarrassment

How Cumbersome

ponderously
2 7.8
cumbersomely
7.7
clumsily
12 2.8
awkwardly
38 2.7

Surface Forms

cumbersomely positive
cumbersomelyer comparative
cumbersomelyest superlative

Morphology

cumbersomely = cumbersome (transparent) = cumber + some + ly

Standard adverbial formation from the adjective 'cumbersome' yields 'in a cumbersome manner'; the relation is directly predictable.

Etymology

Cumbersomely comes from the old word cumber, which meant 'to burden' or 'get in the way', and the part -some suggests 'full of'. So, to do something cumbersomely is to do it in a heavy, awkward way that slows you down.