cumbersome UK /ˈkʌmbəsəm/US /ˈkʌmbɚsəm/ adjective4 •Not easily managed or handled; awkward or clumsy.Cumbersome machines can endanger operators and slow down production. •Hard, difficult, and demanding to handle or get around with.A slave’s work was as cumbersome as toiling on the fields, or in the mines. •Burdensome or hindering, as if a weight or drag; vexatious. •Inert, lumbering, or slow in movement. formsmore cumbersome · most cumbersome