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ponderous - 5 dictionary results
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pon⋅der⋅ous

   [pon-der-uhs]
–adjective
1. of great weight; heavy; massive.
2. awkward or unwieldy: He carried a ponderous burden on his back.
3. dull and labored: a ponderous dissertation.
Origin:
1375–1425; late ME (< MF ponderos, pondereuse) < L ponderōsus. See ponder, -ous
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
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pon·der·ous     (pŏn'dər-əs)  Pronunciation Key 
adj.  
  1. Having great weight.
  2. Unwieldy from weight or bulk.
  3. Lacking grace or fluency; labored and dull: a ponderous speech. See Synonyms at heavy.

[Middle English, from Old French pondereux, from Latin ponderōsus, from pondus, ponder-, weight; see (s)pen- in Indo-European roots.]
pon'der·ous·ly adv., pon'der·ous·ness, pon'der·os'i·ty (-ŏs'ĭ-tē) n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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ponderous 
c.1400, "heavy, weighty, clumsy," from L. ponderosus "of great weight," from pondus (gen. ponderis) "weight" (see pound (1)). Meaning "tedious" is first recorded 1704.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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ponderous

adjective
1. slow and laborious because of weight; "the heavy tread of tired troops"; "moved with a lumbering sag-bellied trot"; "ponderous prehistoric beasts"; "a ponderous yawn" [syn: heavy] 
2. having great mass and weight and unwieldiness; "a ponderous stone"; "a ponderous burden"; "ponderous weapons" 
3. labored and dull; "a ponderous speech" 

WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
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Ponderous

Pon"der*ous\, a. [L. ponderosus, from pondus, -eris, a weight: cf. F. pond['e]reux. See Ponder.]

1. Very heavy; weighty; as, a ponderous shield; a ponderous load; the ponderous elephant.

The sepulcher . . . Hath oped his ponderous and marble jaws. --Shak.

2. Important; momentous; forcible. "Your more ponderous and settled project." --Shak.

3. Heavy; dull; wanting; lightless or spirit; as, a ponderous style; a ponderous joke.

Ponderous spar (Min.), heavy spar, or barytes. See Barite.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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