What does burdensome mean?
Word: Burdensome
Part of Speech: Adjective
Meaning: Burdensome means heavy to carry, or causing a lot of hard work, worry or trouble.
Synonyms: heavy, tiring, troublesome
Antonyms: easy, effortless
How do you spell burdensome?
Syllables: bur - den - some
Tricky part: The middle is den, with an e: burden. Said quickly, it sounds like burd'n, so students often write burdon or burdan.
Watch out for: burdonsome, burdansome, burdinsome
Memory tip: Burden has the word den in the middle: picture a bear dragging a heavy load into its den.
Burdensome in a sentence
Example 1: Filling in the same form three times felt burdensome to my father.
Example 2: The school cut down the homework because it had become burdensome for the younger classes.
Example 3: A heavy rucksack becomes burdensome on a long uphill trek.
Fun Fact
Burden comes from an Old English word linked to bear, meaning to carry, so a burden is really something you have to carry.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Fusion
Choose the two parts that join to make a meaningful word:
1. hood 2. some 3. sum 4. burden 5. ism 6. ly
a) 6 and 2
b) 4 and 2
c) 4 and 3
d) 1 and 5
Show answer
b) 4 and 2. Burden takes some, not sum; hood, ism and ly do not join any offered part to make a word.
Spell Spies
Choose the incorrectly spelt word:
a) dangerous
b) burdensome
c) enormous
d) tremendus
Show answer
d) tremendus. Tremendous ends in -ous, like enormous and dangerous; burdensome is spelt correctly.
Word Champ
Choose the correct word for the blank:
A job that is heavy, tiring and full of worry can be called ________.
a) burdensome
b) cheerful
c) delightful
d) effortless
Show answer
a) burdensome. Effortless means needing no effort, and delightful and cheerful describe happy things; a heavy, tiring job is burdensome.
Word Puzzle
Match the words with the correct options:
1. burdensome 2. ancient 3. reluctant a. modern b. light c. eager
a) 1-b, 2-a, 3-c
b) 1-a, 2-c, 3-b
c) 1-a, 2-b, 3-c
d) 1-c, 2-a, 3-b
Show answer
a) 1-b, 2-a, 3-c. Each word meets its opposite: a burdensome load is not light, ancient is the reverse of modern, and a reluctant helper is not eager.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Which of these would most people find burdensome?
a) Eating a favourite sweet
b) Getting a day off school
c) Carrying ten bags up five floors
d) Watching a short cartoon
Show answer
c) Carrying ten bags up five floors
2. Which of these would make a school bag less burdensome?
a) adding a second heavy water bottle
b) taking out the books not needed that day
c) packing three extra thick notebooks
d) carrying a bigger steel lunch box
Show answer
b) taking out the books not needed that day
