ponderous Meaning, Definition & Usage

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

WordNet

Pon"der*ous adjective
Etymology
L. ponderosus, from pondus, -eris, a weight: cf. F. pondéreux. See Ponder.
Definitions
  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.

Webster 1913