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cumbersome

cum·ber·some/ˈkʌmbɚsəm/adjective

cumbersome is spelled C-U-M-B-E-R-S-O-M-E: 10 letters and 3 syllables (cum·ber·some). It appears 1.4 times per million words in written English, the 23,536th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, cumbersome means “Burdensome or hindering, as if a weight or drag; vexatious” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in cumbersome?

Letters10: C-U-M-B-E-R-S-O-M-E
Syllables3: cum·ber·some
In writing1.4 times per million words; the 23,536th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How common is cumbersome?

Cumbersome appears 1.4 times per million words in written English, the 23,536th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce cumbersome?

  • UK /ˈkʌmbəsəm/
  • US /ˈkʌmbɚsəm/

Cumbersome has 3 syllables, split cum·ber·some in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-cumbersome.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of cumbersome

  • more cumbersome comparative
  • most cumbersome superlative

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does cumbersome mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

adjective

  1. 1

    Burdensome or hindering, as if a weight or drag; vexatious.

  2. 2

    Not easily managed or handled; awkward or clumsy.

    Cumbersome machines can endanger operators and slow down production.

  3. 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. 4

    Inert, lumbering, or slow in movement.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Cumbersome in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchencombrant (burdensome or hindering, as if a weight or…), pénible, fastidieux (hard, difficult, demanding to handle), lourd, lent (inert, lumbering, slow in movement)
Germanhinderlich, lästig, mühsam, beschwerlich (burdensome or hindering, as if a weight or…), schwierig (hard, difficult, demanding to handle), sperrig, umständlich (not easily managed or handled; awkward)
Portugueseincómodo, incômodo (burdensome or hindering, as if a weight or…), desajeitado (not easily managed or handled; awkward)
Spanishpesado, cargante, penoso, oneroso (burdensome or hindering, as if a weight or…), aparatoso, abultado (not easily managed or handled; awkward)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does cumbersome come from?

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

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

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