Ponderous
/ˈpɒn.dər.əs/noun
Heavy, slow, and awkward, or excessively serious and dull.
Did you know?Ponderous comes from Latin ponderosus, “weighty,” from pondus, “weight,” and the same root gave English ponder, originally meaning to weigh carefully.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*pend-
“to hang, to weigh”
Latin
Latin
pondus
“weight, a load”
Latin
Latin
ponderosus
“heavy, weighty”
Old French
Old French
ponderous
“heavy, burdensome”
Middle English
English
ponderous
“heavy; slow-moving; cumbersome”
Modern English
English
ponderous
“heavy, awkward, or tediously serious”