What does burden mean?
Word: Burden
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Burden means a heavy load that has to be carried. It also means a duty or worry that is hard to bear.
Synonyms: load, weight, strain, responsibility
Antonyms: comfort
How do you spell burden?
Syllables: bur - den
Tricky part: The first syllable is spelt ur, not er. Students also muddle the vowel in the ending, writing burdan or burdon.
Watch out for: berden, burdan, burdon
Memory tip: A heavy bag can make your shoulders burn: burden and burn start with the same three letters, bur.
Idioms and Phrases
- beast of burden: an animal, such as a donkey or ox, used to carry heavy loads. Example: "In the hills, mules are still the main beast of burden on narrow tracks."
Burden in a sentence
Example 1: Looking after five younger siblings was a heavy burden for the teenager.
Example 2: Extra coaching classes can become a burden if children get no time to play.
Example 3: The new tax added to the burden on small shopkeepers.
Fun Fact
Burden goes back to Old English byrthen, a load, a word linked to the verb bear. The older spelling burthen still turns up in some old books and hymns.
Practise the CREST Way
Spell-o-Spell
Only one word in the list is spelt correctly. Choose the meaning of that word.
1. burden 2. adversety 3. obstical 4. persaverance
a) a heavy load or a hard duty
b) continuing to try in spite of difficulties
c) a time of great difficulty or bad luck
d) something that blocks your way
Show answer
a) a heavy load or a hard duty. Obstacle ends in -cle, adversity ends in -ity, and perseverance has an e after the s; burden is spelt correctly.
Word Connection
Choose the word opposite in meaning to burden as used in the sentence:
Carrying all the camping gear up the hill was a heavy burden for the two youngest scouts.
a) obligation
b) relief
c) chore
d) duty
Show answer
b) relief. Relief is what you feel when a load is lifted; duty, obligation and chore are other kinds of load, not its opposite.
Word Cookie
Find the extra letter in the word:
burdenn
a) r
b) e
c) d
d) n
Show answer
d) n. Burden ends in a single n; take out the second one.
Word Makeup
Only one of these words makes a real word when the suffix -some is added. Choose it.
a) burden
b) strain
c) load
d) weight
Show answer
a) burden. Burden + some gives burdensome, meaning hard to bear; loadsome, weightsome and strainsome are not words.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. A burden is something like ____.
a) a picnic planned for Sunday
b) a favourite song on the radio
c) a prize won at the school fair
d) a heavy sack carried uphill every morning
Show answer
d) a heavy sack carried uphill every morning
2. 'She did not want to burden her friends with her problems' means she did not want to ____.
a) cheer them up with a joke
b) trouble them with her worries
c) invite them to her house
d) help them with their own work
Show answer
b) trouble them with her worries
