Meaning & use
lumbering
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Meanings
adjectivebefore a noun
Moving in a slow, heavy and clumsy way, usually because of great size or weight.
Grammar: Usually placed before a noun: a lumbering giant.
Patterns
- a lumbering giant
- a lumbering gait
A lumbering bear came out of the trees and sniffed the camp.
The lumbering truck struggled up the steep road.
He walked with a slow, lumbering step after the long shift.
adjectivebefore a nounfigurativedisapproving
Slow, awkward and hard to change, used of organizations or systems.
Grammar: A figurative use, mostly before a noun: a lumbering bureaucracy.
Patterns
- a lumbering bureaucracy
The lumbering bureaucracy took six months to approve the permit.
A lumbering giant of a company, it was slow to respond to new competitors.
verbintransitiveAmerican
Cutting down trees and preparing the wood for sale as timber.
Grammar: As the -ing form of lumber, used mostly in North America: he works lumbering in Maine.
Patterns
- lumbering for a living
Lumbering has been the main industry in the town for a century.
He spent his early years lumbering in the northern forests.
Common combinations
- lumbering giant
- The film showed a lumbering giant crossing the valley.
- lumbering gait
- The old elephant moved with a lumbering gait.
- lumbering bureaucracy
- A lumbering bureaucracy slowed down the whole project.
- lumbering beast
- The lumbering beast shook the ground with each step.
- lumbering vehicle
- A lumbering vehicle blocked the narrow lane.
Synonyms and how they differ
- clumsy
- Clumsy is a broad word for lacking skill in movement, while lumbering specifically suggests a large, slow and heavy body.
- plodding
- Plodding stresses steady, tired, slow walking, whereas lumbering emphasizes bulk and awkward weight.
- ponderous
- Ponderous is more formal and can describe heavy, slow movement or dull writing, and it stresses weight more than clumsiness.
- hulking
- Hulking describes a big, heavy shape rather than the way it moves.
Opposites
Word family
- lumber verb
- to move slowly and heavily
- lumber noun
- timber that has been cut for building
- lumberjack noun
- a person who cuts down trees for timber
- lumberyard noun
- a place where timber is stored and sold
Commonly confused: lumbering or slumbering?
lumbering vs slumbering
Slumbering means sleeping, and it differs from lumbering by only one letter, which makes it easy to misspell.
Practice
Which word is the best opposite of lumbering in the sentence "the lumbering bear"?
Choose one answer.
Lumbering describes slow, clumsy movement, so nimble, meaning quick and light, is the opposite. Enormous may describe the bear's size but does not contrast with the way it moves.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “lumbering”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.