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Ponderous
Definitions
- 1 Heavy, massive, weighty.
"[H]e saw, at the end of a shallow embrasure, a ponderous door of dark wood, braced with iron."
- 2 Serious, onerous, oppressive. broadly, figuratively
"It was Dryden's opinion . . . that the drama required an alternation of comick and tragick scenes; and that it is necessary to mitigate, by alleviations of merriment, the pressure of ponderous events, and the fatigue of toilsome passions."
- 3 Clumsy, unwieldy, or slow, especially due to weight.
"[T]he inmates of the coach, by numerous hard, painful joltings, and ponderous, dragging trundlings, are suddenly made sensible of some great change in the character of the road."
- 4 Dull, boring, tedious; long-winded in expression.
"Over supper the minister did unbend a little into one or two ponderous jokes."
- 5 Characterized by or associated with pondering. rare
"Ponderous thoughts take hold of the heart; musing maketh the fire to burn, and steady sight hath the greatest influence upon us."
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- 6 Dense. obsolete
- 1 having great mass and weight and unwieldiness wordnet
- 2 slow and laborious because of weight wordnet
- 3 labored and dull wordnet
Etymology
Ultimately from Latin ponderōsus (“weighty”).
See also for "ponderous"
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