Definitions for ponderous
ˈpɒn dər əspon·der·ous

Princeton's WordNetRate this definition:3.0 / 1 vote

1. heavy, lumbering, ponderousadjective

   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"

2. ponderousadjective

   having great mass and weight and unwieldiness

   "a ponderous stone"; "a ponderous burden"; "ponderous weapons"

3. ponderousadjective

   labored and dull

   "a ponderous speech"

WiktionaryRate this definition:4.0 / 2 votes

1. ponderousadjective

   Heavy, massive, weighty.

2. ponderousadjective

   Serious, onerous, oppressive.

3. ponderousadjective

   Clumsy, unwieldy, or slow, especially due to weight.

4. ponderousadjective

   Dull, boring, tedious; long-winded in expression.

5. ponderousadjective

   Characterized by or associated with pondering.

6. ponderousadjective

   Dense.

7. Etymology: Ultimately from ponderosus.

Samuel Johnson's DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. PONDEROUSadjective

   Etymology: ponderosus, from pondus, Lat.

   1. Heavy; weighty.

   It is more difficult to make gold, which is the most ponderous and materiate amongst metals, of other metals less ponderous and materiate, than, via versa, to make silver of lead or quicksilver; both which are more ponderous than silver. Francis Bacon.

   His pond’rous shield behind him cast. John Milton.

   Upon laying a weight in one of the scales, inscribed eternity, though I threw in that of time, prosperity, affliction, wealth and poverty, which seemed very ponderous, they were not able to stir the opposite balance. Addison.

   Because all the parts of an undistributed fluid are of equal gravity, or gradually placed according to the difference of it, any concretion, that can be supposed to be naturally made in such a fluid, must be all over of a similar gravity, or have the more ponderous parts nearer to its basis. Richard Bentley, Sermons.

   2. Important; momentous.

   If your more ponderous and settl’d project
   May suffer alteration, I’ll point you
   Where you shall have receiving shall become you. William Shakespeare.

   3. Forcible; strongly impulsive,

   Imagination hath more force upon things living, than things inanimate; and upon light and subtile motions, than upon motions vehement or ponderous. Francis Bacon.

   Impatient of her load,
   And lab’ring underneath the pond’rous god,
   The more she strove to shake him from her breast,
   With far superior force he press’d. Dryden.

   Press’d with the pond’rous blow,
   Down sinks the ship within th’ abyss below. Dryden.

WikipediaRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. ponderous

   In science and engineering, the weight of an object is the force acting on the object due to gravity.Some standard textbooks define weight as a vector quantity, the gravitational force acting on the object. Others define weight as a scalar quantity, the magnitude of the gravitational force. Yet others define it as the magnitude of the reaction force exerted on a body by mechanisms that counteract the effects of gravity: the weight is the quantity that is measured by, for example, a spring scale. Thus, in a state of free fall, the weight would be zero. In this sense of weight, terrestrial objects can be weightless: ignoring air resistance, the famous apple falling from the tree, on its way to meet the ground near Isaac Newton, would be weightless. The unit of measurement for weight is that of force, which in the International System of Units (SI) is the newton. For example, an object with a mass of one kilogram has a weight of about 9.8 newtons on the surface of the Earth, and about one-sixth as much on the Moon. Although weight and mass are scientifically distinct quantities, the terms are often confused with each other in everyday use (e.g. comparing and converting force weight in pounds to mass in kilograms and vice versa).Further complications in elucidating the various concepts of weight have to do with the theory of relativity according to which gravity is modeled as a consequence of the curvature of spacetime. In the teaching community, a considerable debate has existed for over half a century on how to define weight for their students. The current situation is that a multiple set of concepts co-exist and find use in their various contexts.

ChatGPTRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. ponderous

   Ponderous generally refers to something that is heavy, bulky, or unwieldy, whether in a physical or metaphorical sense. It can also mean slow and clumsy due to weight or size, or dull, laborious, or excessively solemn.

Webster DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Ponderousadjective

   very heavy; weighty; as, a ponderous shield; a ponderous load; the ponderous elephant

2. Ponderousadjective

   important; momentous; forcible

3. Ponderousadjective

   heavy; dull; wanting; lightless or spirit; as, a ponderous style; a ponderous joke

4. Etymology: [L. ponderosus, from pondus, -eris, a weight: cf. F. pondreux. See Ponder.]

Editors ContributionRate this definition:5.0 / 1 vote

1. ponderous

   Ponderous-meant for serious reading -I guess-certain text are ponderous to some-guess for a general audience-non ponderous texts are ok.

   he was reading the indian text-the brahmasutras which was a ponderous text.he was reading a general knowledge book which was non ponderous.

   
   

   Submitted by Lighthouse21 on May 8, 2018  

Usage in printed sourcesFrom: 

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How to pronounce ponderous?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say ponderous in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of ponderous in Chaldean Numerology is: 2

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of ponderous in Pythagorean Numerology is: 1

Examples of ponderous in a Sentence

1. R Chamberlain:

   A foolish man in wealth and authority is like a weak-timbered house with a too-ponderous roof.

2. This Is Spinal Tap:

   Marty This pretentious ponderous collection of religious rock psalms is enough to prompt the question, What day did the Lord create Spinal Tap, and couldn't he have rested on that day too'

3. W, Willard Wirtz:

   Commencement speakers have a good deal in common with grandfather clocks Standing usually some six feet tall, typically ponderous in construction, more traditional than functional, their distinction is largely their noisy communication of essentially commonplace information.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

References

1. ^ Princeton's WordNet
   http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=ponderous
2. ^ Wiktionary
   https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Ponderous
3. ^ Samuel Johnson's Dictionary
   https://johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/views/search.php?term=ponderous
4. ^ Wikipedia
   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ponderous
5. ^ ChatGPT
   https://chat.openai.com
6. ^ Webster Dictionary
   https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ponderous
7. ^ Usage in printed sources
   https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=ponderous