lumbered

verb

past tense of lumber
1
as in shuffled
to move heavily or clumsily the elephant lumbered through the jungle

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in stumbled
to proceed or act clumsily or ineffectually the novel's plot lumbers to its predictable conclusion after 500 long pages

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in rumbled
to make a low heavy rolling sound the horse-drawn wagon lumbered along the trail

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4
as in loaded
to place a weight or burden on preparations that will lumber the expedition with unnecessary equipment and supplies

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of lumbered The man in the suit who lumbered around in the background of their lives. — Emma Cline, New Yorker, 9 Aug. 2026 When the other train finally emerged through the inferno and lumbered past them, the camera man couldn’t help but exclaim. — Frank Landymore, Futurism, 15 July 2026 Quietly reading my book without another soul around, a family of four lumbered up with their wagon filled with chairs, toys, an umbrella, and a cooler. — Susan B. Barnes, Southern Living, 14 July 2026 Just before Megna spoke in the hallway outside the Eagles locker room, Gagne lumbered by on crutches. — Corey Masisak, Denver Post, 11 June 2026 Many experts had thought sharks didn't exist in the frigid waters of Antarctica before this sleeper shark lumbered warily and briefly into the spotlight of a video camera, researcher Alan Jamieson said this week. — CBS News, 18 Feb. 2026 Many experts had thought sharks didn’t exist in the frigid waters of Antarctica before this sleeper shark lumbered warily and briefly into the spotlight of a video camera, researcher Alan Jamieson said this week. — ABC News, 17 Feb. 2026 Robinson said he was also cut off from food stamps in November as the longest government shutdown in history lumbered on. — Rebecca Johnson, Chicago Tribune, 27 Jan. 2026 The raccoon took the hint, shimmied down the rope and lumbered onto a ladder before making a less-than-graceful landing on the porch below. — Ronnie Li, USA Today, 16 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for lumbered
  1. shuffled
  2. stumbled
  3. rumbled
  4. loaded
  5. stomped
  6. struggled
  7. growled
  8. saddled
Verb
  • The Playoff remains parked at 12 teams, and some G6 conferences shuffled teams, now including North Dakota State and Sacramento State.
    — Jason Kirk, New York Times, 31 July 2026
  • Black voters were shuffled around Houston, with much of the previous 9th Congressional District becoming the new 18th District.
    — Rahul Mukherjee, NPR, 23 July 2026
Definition of shuffled
Verb
  • Some stopped during their lunch break, while others stumbled across the competition by chance.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 8 Aug. 2026
  • Advertisement But the test favored Claude by selecting cases where a researcher had already stumbled.
    — Harry Booth, Time, 7 Aug. 2026
Definition of stumbled
Verb
  • Strong thunderstorms with torrential rain rumbled through Kansas City early Thursday morning, soaking the metro with several inches of rain.
    — Kansas City Star, Kansas City Star, 6 Aug. 2026
  • New York City horse racing rumbled to the finish line Sunday, as Aqueduct Racetrack — in all its paint-peeling, dilapidated glory — staged the venue’s last live races, transporting aging fans to a bygone era.
    — Lili Kobielski, NBC news, 29 June 2026
Definition of rumbled
Verb
  • Detroit reliever Drew Sommers loaded the bases with one out in the eighth, but Devers hit into a double play.
    — CBS News, CBS News, 10 Aug. 2026
  • And then as his outing unfolded, and he was challenged there in his second inning with the bases loaded.
    — LaMond Pope, Chicago Tribune, 9 Aug. 2026
Definition of loaded
Verb
  • That was broken up by Owens, who stomped Gunther and then caught him with a big clothesline.
    — Blake Oestriecher, Forbes.com, 2 Aug. 2026
  • Ten members of a Pennsylvania high school football team, including several coaches, face charges after a player was allegedly stomped with cleats, and jabbed in the buttocks with a broomstick.
    — Adam Sabes, FOXNews.com, 30 July 2026
Definition of stomped
Verb
  • People half his age with serious mountain experience struggled and marvelled at him leading them to the top.
    — Andy Mitten, New York Times, 12 Aug. 2026
  • Whisenhunt had struggled in his last three starts leading up to Tuesday, allowing 14 earned runs and walking nine batters over his last 11 2/3 innings.
    — Justice delos Santos, Mercury News, 12 Aug. 2026
Definition of struggled
Verb
  • Since then, Barkley has growled at several other people, and all but one have been diagnosed with some type of cancer, Dozier said.
    — Becca Savransky, Idaho Statesman, 11 Aug. 2026
  • At the other end of our road, the cranes of the docks loomed — great Stothert and Pitt machines that growled overhead like something out of Star Wars, guarding the scale and mystery of the River Thames.
    — Lee Clayton, New York Times, 4 Aug. 2026
Definition of growled
Verb
  • Barkley hadn’t always been saddled by lackluster Knicks games; in 2010-11, New York was afforded a grand total of zero national TV dates.
    — Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 27 July 2026
  • The Global Financial Crisis had saddled GE Capital, long its biggest profitmaker, with mountainous debt.
    — Shawn Tully, Fortune, 23 July 2026
Definition of saddled

Browse Nearby Words

lumber
lumbered
lumberer
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Cite this Entry

“Lumbered.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/lumbered. Accessed 13 Aug. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on lumbered

Nglish: Translation of lumbered for Spanish Speakers

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