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
The magic of blasting down a wall of water balanced on a few pounds of Styrofoam doesn’t typically translate to the rectangular page; too many efforts feel pompous, ponderous or preening.
—
Los Angeles Times, 14 Apr. 2025
Too often novels packed with this many ideas sacrifice emotion in favor of mounting a ponderous argument; Norlin instead writes visceral episodes that speak for themselves.
—Joumana Khatib, New York Times, 24 Mar. 2025
With their colossal bodies and ponderous feet, elephants have never struck me as masters of hide-and-seek.
—Chris Schalkx, Travel + Leisure, 16 Mar. 2025
The song drips with pungent blue notes, but Flack — singing over a jazz combo at a ponderous tempo — finds a way to luxuriate in the melody, bending the lyrics enough to make any fan perk up.
—Ben Sisario, New York Times, 24 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for ponderous
Los Angeles Times, 14 Apr. 2025
Too often novels packed with this many ideas sacrifice emotion in favor of mounting a ponderous argument; Norlin instead writes visceral episodes that speak for themselves.
—Joumana Khatib, New York Times, 24 Mar. 2025
With their colossal bodies and ponderous feet, elephants have never struck me as masters of hide-and-seek.
—Chris Schalkx, Travel + Leisure, 16 Mar. 2025
The song drips with pungent blue notes, but Flack — singing over a jazz combo at a ponderous tempo — finds a way to luxuriate in the melody, bending the lyrics enough to make any fan perk up.
—Ben Sisario, New York Times, 24 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for ponderous
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ponderous
Adjective
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Belief that your institution is exempt from the hard, functional and often boring parts of the job leads to a slow decline.—
Carl Anka,
New York Times,
22 May 2025
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One ideal that rung loudly at the presentation was that these students were unafraid to dream–rather than send designs down the runway that felt truncated, trendy or downright boring, the student designers chose an opposite route.—
Robyn Mowatt,
Essence,
20 May 2025
Adjective
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Earps also made a massive impact off the field, calling out Nike for not selling replica women’s goalkeeper shirts during the World Cup — and winning.—
Emily Olsen,
New York Times,
28 May 2025
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Every hurricane season in Florida comes with uncertainty but there’s a surprising new source of questions this year surrounding the federal agency that responds to disasters and has historically helped pay for often massive cleanup and recovery costs.—
Alex Harris,
Miami Herald,
28 May 2025
Adjective
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These transitions, between past and present, are sometimes clumsy but sometimes genuinely sweet, as with an old letter that near-simultaneously is dictated and written, received and read, and finally rediscovered (and only partially understood) in the 21st century.—
Jessica Kiang,
Variety,
27 May 2025
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Wildlife officials helped remove a black bear found hanging out in the kitchen of a Kentucky home after an impressive, yet clumsy break-in, photos show.—
Mitchell Willetts,
Kansas City Star,
25 May 2025
Adjective
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Despite the retirement of highly successful Atlas and Delta launch vehicles, the transition to Vulcan has been slow and continues to impact the completion of Space Force mission objectives.—
Richard Tribou,
The Orlando Sentinel,
30 May 2025
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Here in Croatia, the pace of life is slower, especially in smaller towns.—
Abdul Rehman,
New York Times,
30 May 2025
Adjective
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Terra cotta boxes are attractive but heavy once filled with soil, so these require adequate support to hold their weight.—
Arricca Elin SanSone,
Southern Living,
23 May 2025
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After the heavy Clasico defeat at Montjuic that effectively ended the title race, The Athletic reported that Madrid were not ruling out reinforcements (or sales) in other positions too, and that includes midfield.—
Mario Cortegana,
New York Times,
22 May 2025
Adjective
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Eddie's real parentage is revealed, Maeve is outed, Kevin catches up with Rusby, Bella brokers her deal, and Alice attends an awkward Harrigan dinner.—
Matt Cabral,
EW.com,
26 May 2025
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There is also an awkward disconnect: Gmail’s recent encryption upgrade clashes with its AI upgrades.—
Zak Doffman,
Forbes.com,
25 May 2025
Adjective
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Of course, all that excitement does get tiring after a while, and the dogs in side B eventually wind down for a brief nap.—
Jason D. Greenblatt,
MSNBC Newsweek,
2 Apr. 2025
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At-home blowouts are hard; even when armed with the right tutorials and top-of-the-line tools, all the maneuvering gets tiring quickly.—
Kylee McGuigan,
Vogue,
12 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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Their goal is also to reduce stress for breastfeeding parents and avoid the cumbersome use of pre- and post-feed weighing of infants.—
Melissa Willets,
Parents,
26 May 2025
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Although effective, such tests are both expensive and cumbersome and probably not efficient enough to handle the growing need for early diagnosis.—
Paul Smaglik,
Discover Magazine,
20 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Ponderous.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ponderous. Accessed 4 Jun. 2025.
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