1
as in boring
causing weariness, restlessness, or lack of interest
fell asleep during the ponderous speech
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in massive
having great weight
those ponderous pachyderms more commonly known as elephants
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in clumsy
difficult to use or operate especially because of size, weight, or design
lugged a ponderous movie camera all over China
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of ponderous
Despite the political specificity of the family history unearthed here, the script presumes a level of profundity that’s just not there in the movie’s ponderous silences and woozy montages.
—
David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 28 Sep. 2025
The sculpture, unveiled by the artist Eric Fischl in 2000 and titled Soul in Flight, is worth pausing to look at, for its instructive power and its indictment of the ponderous slabs of metallurgical debris that litter other stadiums and arenas.
—Sally Jenkins, The Atlantic, 30 Aug. 2025
Much of the show is given to ponderous historical segues.
—Ruby Tandoh, New Yorker, 25 Aug. 2025
There’s no long-winded exposition, no ponderous articulation of the themes, and no punches pulled.
—Louis Peitzman, Vulture, 8 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for ponderous
David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 28 Sep. 2025
The sculpture, unveiled by the artist Eric Fischl in 2000 and titled Soul in Flight, is worth pausing to look at, for its instructive power and its indictment of the ponderous slabs of metallurgical debris that litter other stadiums and arenas.
—Sally Jenkins, The Atlantic, 30 Aug. 2025
Much of the show is given to ponderous historical segues.
—Ruby Tandoh, New Yorker, 25 Aug. 2025
There’s no long-winded exposition, no ponderous articulation of the themes, and no punches pulled.
—Louis Peitzman, Vulture, 8 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for ponderous
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ponderous
Adjective
-
The boring lunch ends boringly, with the women sipping their champagne in silence, tucking into their salads, and ignoring the commemorative glasses that no one wanted.—
Brian Moylan,
Vulture,
13 Feb. 2026
-
This sounds like a boring event but the boys turn the act of breaking up ice or sleet sheets from the sidewalk into a hockey-like competition.—
Caleb Harris,
Austin American Statesman,
11 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
Wednesday’s strike against Ukraine comes a day after Russia launched a massive attack, deploying 470 drones in various cities and regions across the Eastern European country.—
Washington Examiner Staff,
The Washington Examiner,
12 Feb. 2026
-
The least massive stars take an enormous amount of time to burn through their fuel, living as red dwarfs and dying as white dwarfs, before fading away to black after roughly a quadrillion years pass.—
Big Think,
Big Think,
11 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
The tech driving my first clumsy steps included a six-axis inertial measurement unit (IMU) and GPS sensors monitoring each ski’s position and the weight and angle of my heel.—
Kendall Hunter,
Outside,
14 Feb. 2026
-
Who wants to sit through a fictitious novelist’s clumsy drafts?—
Theater Critic,
Los Angeles Times,
14 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
That builds on similar trends throughout 2025, when the industry buoyed an otherwise slow labor market, as the nation’s hospitals, clinics and nursing homes kept hiring even as many employers pulled back.—
Abha Bhattarai,
Washington Post,
14 Feb. 2026
-
Any type of realism was [limited to] very short clips, everything was very slow, bad textures, no skin textures, lacking detail.—
Arjun Kharpal,
CNBC,
14 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
The system is designed to operate closer to the forward edge of the battlefield than legacy heavy MLRS platforms.—
Prabhat Ranjan Mishra,
Interesting Engineering,
9 Feb. 2026
-
Malinin, the heavy favorite for individual gold this week, stepped up after teammate Amber Glenn’s shaky performance.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
8 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
The image became a meme, repeatedly used to portray Miliband as awkward.—
Timothy Nerozzi,
The Washington Examiner,
10 Feb. 2026
-
The communication was straightforward and a bit awkward, sadly missing the mentions of Nancy Guthrie’s humanity that had peppered the family’s first video.—
Assistant Editor,
Los Angeles Times,
9 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
It's been a cold, tiring week, but the light at the end of the tunnel that is a Saturday at Ikea picking out lamp shades is finally within sight.—
Joe Mutascio,
IndyStar,
6 Feb. 2026
-
But studies have also shown that consuming caffeine before a mentally tiring task reduces the feeling of cognitive fatigue.—
Katharine Gammon,
Time,
6 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
One approach is to reform outdated and cumbersome permitting processes so clean energy projects, such as for solar and wind power — along with more transmission lines — can be added to our grid more quickly.—
Chicago Tribune,
Chicago Tribune,
8 Feb. 2026
-
The legislative process is cumbersome and messy, but ultimately it is shaped by 535 lawmakers’ opinions from districts and states across the nation.—
Abby McCloskey,
Twin Cities,
5 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Ponderous.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ponderous. Accessed 16 Feb. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
