1
as in boring
causing weariness, restlessness, or lack of interest
fell asleep during the ponderous speech
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in massive
having great weight
those ponderous pachyderms more commonly known as elephants
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3
as in clumsy
difficult to use or operate especially because of size, weight, or design
lugged a ponderous movie camera all over China
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of ponderous
Parts of the final’s first half — slow and ponderous, with full-back Malo Gusto severely inverted — explained why a portion of Chelsea’s crowd are sceptical about him.
—
Phil Hay, New York Times, 29 May 2025
And, priced at just one penny per issue, the new paper was marketed to a much larger public than mercantile sheets like the ponderous Courier and Enquirer.
—Matthew Karp, Harpers Magazine, 29 Apr. 2025
Stories and secrets In between chapters, Doom: The Dark Ages breaks things up with some extremely ponderous cutscenes featuring a number of religious and political factions, both demon and human, jockeying for position and control in an interdimensional war.
—ArsTechnica, 9 May 2025
Long, ponderous trains snake through at regular intervals.
—Jessica Garrison, Los Angeles Times, 26 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for ponderous
Phil Hay, New York Times, 29 May 2025
And, priced at just one penny per issue, the new paper was marketed to a much larger public than mercantile sheets like the ponderous Courier and Enquirer.
—Matthew Karp, Harpers Magazine, 29 Apr. 2025
Stories and secrets In between chapters, Doom: The Dark Ages breaks things up with some extremely ponderous cutscenes featuring a number of religious and political factions, both demon and human, jockeying for position and control in an interdimensional war.
—ArsTechnica, 9 May 2025
Long, ponderous trains snake through at regular intervals.
—Jessica Garrison, Los Angeles Times, 26 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for ponderous
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ponderous
Adjective
-
Hunter: The Reckoning puts players in the role of regular people who know monsters are real and can’t go back to their old, boring lives.—
Rob Wieland,
Forbes.com,
21 July 2025
-
The real world is monochromatic, straightforward, boring.—
Steven Zeitchik,
HollywoodReporter,
19 July 2025
Adjective
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After China fired ballistic missiles at American bases in Japan, the fighting exploded, with the U.S. launching massive strikes against the mainland and Japanese jets attacking Chinese ships.—
Dexter Filkins,
New Yorker,
14 July 2025
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Until now, the most massive back hole merger was GW190521, detected in 2020.—
ArsTechnica,
ArsTechnica,
14 July 2025
Adjective
-
Dream plays are difficult to execute—whimsy is easily crushed by clumsy handling.—
Helen Shaw,
New Yorker,
25 July 2025
-
Despite a clumsy apology tour, Hogan was never able to completely shake his darkest moment.—
Alfred Konuwa,
Forbes.com,
24 July 2025
Adjective
-
As elevated mortgage rates continue to put a damper on the housing market locally and nationally, rising inventory, slower sales and lower prices have made for more favorable conditions for potential buyers in the Austin-area housing market.—
Shonda Novak,
Austin American Statesman,
30 July 2025
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Progress toward the opening of the micro-home village has been slow following a ceremonial groundbreaking held in July 2023.—
Joseph Flaherty,
Arkansas Online,
30 July 2025
Adjective
-
Recent heavy rains likely contributed to the dam failure.—
Jalen Williams,
Freep.com,
23 July 2025
-
The outages came after monsoon storms moved across the state, bringing heavy rain, wind and flash flooding risk.—
Sasha Hupka,
AZCentral.com,
23 July 2025
Adjective
-
The house was a little awkward and needed some work, including in the living room, which had a mix of original wood flooring and vinyl.—
Thomas Fuller,
New York Times,
24 July 2025
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Once Mercury goes direct on Aug. 11, the awkward conversations or delays with friends or teammates start to smooth out.—
Valerie Mesa,
People.com,
22 July 2025
Adjective
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Meanwhile, Kennedy’s opponent, Vice President Richard Nixon, seemed to embody what voters were tiring of—the stale complacency and status quo of the 1950s.—
Time,
Time,
23 July 2025
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There are only so many new stories to be told, and audiences seem to be tiring of the monotony.—
Rebecca Rubin,
Variety,
23 July 2025
Adjective
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Developers have complained for years that the city’s cumbersome construction permitting process takes far too long, adding costs to projects.—
John Aguilar,
Denver Post,
22 July 2025
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The best thing of all are the performances of early American folk songs that the two men record on cumbersome equipment.—
Taylor Antrim,
Vogue,
21 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Ponderous.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ponderous. Accessed 5 Aug. 2025.
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