Ponderous - Meaning, Definition & English Examples
Ponderous describes something slow, heavy, or laborious, either physically or mentally. It can refer to a person’s slow movement, a dull speech, or writing that feels overly serious and tedious.
Definition:
Slow and clumsy due to great weight, or dull and laborious.
Synonyms:
Heavy, cumbersome, lumbering, sluggish, unwieldy
Part of Speech:
Adjective
Antonyms:
Light, nimble, agile
Common Collocations:
Ponderous steps, ponderous speech, ponderous book
Derivatives:
Ponderously, ponderousness
Usage Tips:
Use "ponderous" to describe something physically heavy or metaphorically slow and dull.
Common Phrases:
Ponderous gait, ponderous tome, ponderous bureaucracy
Etymology:
From Latin "ponderosus," meaning "weighty," from "pondus" (weight).
Examples:
- 1. The elephant moved in a ponderous manner across the savanna.
- 2. His ponderous speech made the audience lose interest quickly.
- 3. The old machinery was too ponderous to move easily.
- 4. She struggled with the ponderous textbook full of dense information.