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encumbered

adjective

Simple meaning

Weighted down, loaded sufficiently to make slow.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

ehnkuhmberd

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US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ɛnˈkʌmbɚd

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.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

adjective

  1. Weighted down, loaded sufficiently to make slow.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
C2 · Proficient (estimated)
Frequency
Rare

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: Weighted down, loaded sufficiently to make slow.

Used this way, encumbered is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
No strong connotation
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 encumbered

  • “A summer resort...encumbered with great clapboard-and-stucco hotels"- A.J.Liebling.”adjective

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

less encumberedencumbered propertyheavily encumberedencumbered estate

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More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

Sense: weighted down or loaded sufficiently to make slow

loaded down

Antonyms

Sense: weighted down or loaded sufficiently to make slow

unencumbered

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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.