burden
noun · verb
Simple meaning
A heavy load.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
burduhnSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈbɝdən
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
A heavy load.
A cause of worry; that which is grievous, wearisome, or oppressive.
A responsibility, onus.
The capacity of a vessel, or the weight of cargo that she will carry.
A fixed quantity of certain commodities.
Theme, core idea.
verb
transitive
To impose, as a load or burden; to lay or place as a burden (something heavy or objectionable).
transitive
To encumber with a literal or figurative burden.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B1 · Intermediate (estimated)
- Frequency
- Common
- Typical Use
- General English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: To impose, as a load or burden; to lay or place as a burden (something heavy or objectionable).
Used this way, burden is a reasonably familiar word with a faintly unfavourable edge. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Slightly negative
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Moderate
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Critical or judgemental
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use burden
- “The burden of responsibility.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Similar Words, What’s the Difference?
Close in meaning, but not always interchangeable.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Inflected forms
Grammatical variations of the same word.
Bearing a heavy burden of work or difficulties or responsibilities.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
The duty of proving a disputed charge.
The supposed responsibility of the white race to provide care for their non-white subjects.
An animal such as a donkey or ox or elephant used for transporting loads or doing other heavy work.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.