1
as in boring
causing weariness, restlessness, or lack of interest
fell asleep during the ponderous speech
Synonyms & Similar Words
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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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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
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of ponderous
The problem is that Congress changing fundamental statutes is a ponderous process ill suited to administering foreign policy in a dynamic global economy.
—
Edward Lotterman, Twin Cities, 8 Mar. 2026
Where the ponderous fire-roads invited a slow, deliberate pace to space our kidneys, the combination of hilly terrain and a slick surface demanded a more extemporaneous approach to conserving momentum.
—Byron Hurd, The Drive, 22 Jan. 2026
The boogie-woogie vibe instilled by Federici’s jangly piano pegs it as a pool hall hit rather than the headphones-listening and ponderous nature of the original.
—Melissa Ruggieri, USA Today, 24 Oct. 2025
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
See All Example Sentences for ponderous
Edward Lotterman, Twin Cities, 8 Mar. 2026
Where the ponderous fire-roads invited a slow, deliberate pace to space our kidneys, the combination of hilly terrain and a slick surface demanded a more extemporaneous approach to conserving momentum.
—Byron Hurd, The Drive, 22 Jan. 2026
The boogie-woogie vibe instilled by Federici’s jangly piano pegs it as a pool hall hit rather than the headphones-listening and ponderous nature of the original.
—Melissa Ruggieri, USA Today, 24 Oct. 2025
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
See All Example Sentences for ponderous
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ponderous
Adjective
-
Curry is pure entertainment, and the NBA is a little more boring without him.—
Sports Columnist,
San Francisco Chronicle,
1 Apr. 2026
-
One does detect in Iran hawks a kind of 'will to destruction' and hatred of boring, civilized diplomacy.—
Jesus Mesa,
MSNBC Newsweek,
31 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
For larger groups or families, the already massive two-bedroom penthouse can become a three-bedroom behemoth thanks to an optional adjoining suite.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
2 Apr. 2026
-
His Iran deal would have led to a colossal arsenal of massive nuclear weapons for Iran.—
James Powel,
USA Today,
2 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Even young Oklahoma City required a clumsy postseason audition.—
Troy Renck,
Denver Post,
5 Apr. 2026
-
The driver and his accomplice then mounted a clumsy getaway that resulted in their scooter crashing about three blocks from the scene, cops said.—
Thomas Tracy,
New York Daily News,
3 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
In fact, businesses hired workers at their slowest pace since 2011, excluding the onset of the pandemic in 2020.—
Morgan Chittum,
CNBC,
3 Apr. 2026
-
The area’s large tourist population contributes a constant volume of unfamiliar drivers to already heavily congested roads, with traffic patterns that shift significantly between peak tourist season and the summer months but never truly slow to manageable levels on the area’s major corridors.—
Anton Lucanus
April 3,
Miami Herald,
3 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
At Green-Wood Cemetery, an almost five-hundred-acre burial ground in western Brooklyn that rises and falls along an old push moraine, a nonprofit has partnered with the city on interventions meant to keep stormwater out of sixteen nearby sewersheds during heavy rainfall.—
Eric Klinenberg,
New Yorker,
6 Apr. 2026
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Equally important, but garnering less attention, have been the price increases for products made from energy, like nitrogen-heavy fertilizer, which is synthesized from ammonia, derived from natural gas.—
E.J. Antoni,
Boston Herald,
6 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
So Pakistan is already in an awkward position because the Saudis are being attacked.—
Isaac Chotiner,
New Yorker,
30 Mar. 2026
-
Lock down the logistics first The fastest way to kill trip momentum is skipping the awkward conversations.—
Lauren Schuster,
Miami Herald,
30 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
Collective processes involve tiring negotiations, frequent conflicts, and disappointing compromises, both internally among the team and with external interlocutors and partners.—
Adam Szymczyk,
Artforum,
2 Apr. 2026
-
This can occasionally become tiring, and the back half of the record is littered with tracks that work better as gay WrestleMania intros than as actual songs.—
Harry Tafoya,
Pitchfork,
2 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
The compact electromagnetic launcher features a 12-inch barrel and is light enough to be comfortably held and operated with one hand, allowing for greater mobility and ease of use in tight or urban environments where traditional firearms or larger coil guns would be cumbersome.—
Bojan Stojkovski,
Interesting Engineering,
5 Apr. 2026
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The researchers received the feedback in a meeting with FDA reviewers to discuss a potential study of custom treatments using prime editors, a more complex and cumbersome gene editing technology that can treat a much wider range of genetic misspellings.—
Ed Silverman,
STAT,
1 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Ponderous.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ponderous. Accessed 6 Apr. 2026.
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