BURDEN: Synonyms and Related Words. What is Another Word for BURDEN?

Need another word that means the same as “burden”? Find 65 synonyms and 30 related words for “burden” in this overview.

The synonyms of “Burden” are: core, effect, essence, gist, load, loading, encumbrance, incumbrance, onus, cargo, freight, weight, responsibility, charge, duty, obligation, liability, job, chore, labour, piece of work, piece of business, assignment, function, commission, mission, engagement, occupation, undertaking, exercise, business, errand, detail, endeavour, enterprise, venture, quest, problem, substance, drift, implication, intention, thrust, meaning, significance, signification, sense, thesis, import, purport, tenor, message, spirit, refrain, strain, burthen, weight down, saddle, oppress, trouble, cause trouble to, cause suffering to

Burden as a Noun

Definitions of "Burden" as a noun

According to the Oxford Dictionary of English, “burden” as a noun can have the following definitions:

• The refrain or chorus of a song.
• The central meaning or theme of a speech or literary work.
• An onerous or difficult concern.
• The main theme or gist of a speech, book, or argument.
• The main responsibility for achieving a specified aim or task.
• A load, typically a heavy one.
• The central idea that is expanded in a document or discourse.
• Weight to be borne or conveyed.
• A duty or misfortune that causes worry, hardship, or distress.
• A ship's carrying capacity; tonnage.

Synonyms of "Burden" as a noun (55 Words)

assignment	The allocation of someone or something as belonging to a particular group or category. The assignment of individuals to particular social positions.
business	Business concerns collectively. Computers are now widely used in business.
cargo	Goods carried on a ship, aircraft, or motor vehicle. A cargo of oil.
charge	The price charged for some article or service. Smaller charges fired on three minute fuses lit by hand.
chore	A routine task, especially a household one. The early risers were up and about doing their chores.
commission	A work produced in response to a commission. He works on commission.
core	The muscles of the torso, especially the lower back and abdominal area, which assist in the maintenance of good posture, balance, etc. Each core has three wires passing through it providing the means to select and detect the contents of each bit.
detail	A small part of a picture that is reproduced separately for close study. The classical French detail of the building s facade.
drift	An act of herding cattle within a forest to a particular place on an appointed day in order to determine ownership or to levy fines. Four sheep were dug out of the drift.
duty	Performance of prescribed church services by a priest or minister. She was determined to do her duty as a citizen.
effect	Having legal validity. Gentle music can have a soothing effect.
encumbrance	An impediment or burden. The horse raised its hind leg as if to rid itself of an encumbrance.
endeavour	An enterprise or undertaking. Enthusiasm is a vital ingredient in all human endeavour.
engagement	An arrangement to do something or go somewhere at a fixed time. A dinner engagement.
enterprise	Entrepreneurial economic activity. An economic environment which encourages enterprise.
errand	The purpose or object of an errand. She knew that if she stated her errand she would not be able to see him.
essence	The intrinsic nature or indispensable quality of something, especially something abstract, which determines its character. Conflict is the essence of drama.
exercise	The act of using. An exercise in cheap talk.
freight	A freight train. We pay the freight.
function	Mathematics a mathematical relation such that each element of a given set the domain of the function is associated with an element of another set the range of the function. It was a black tie function.
gist	The substance or general meaning of a speech or text. Damage is the gist of the action and without it the plaintiff must fail.
implication	A meaning that is not expressly stated but can be inferred. The expectation was spread both by word and by implication.
import	An imported person brought from a foreign country. The import of his announcement was ambiguous.
incumbrance	Any obstruction that impedes or is burdensome.
intention	Conceptions formed by directing the mind towards an object. Intention is just one of the factors that will be considered.
job	A workplace as in the expression on the job. She wants to be left alone to get on with the job.
labour	Workers considered as a social class or political force. The labour movement.
liability	The state of being legally obliged and responsible. Once you contact the card protection scheme your liability for any loss ends.
load	The power output of a generator or power plant. He got a load on and started a brawl.
loading	Weight to be borne or conveyed. The loading took 2 hours.
meaning	Important or worthwhile quality; purpose. This can lead to new meaning in the life of older people.
message	An errand. Select an option to delete your mail messages.
mission	A building or group of buildings used by a Christian mission. NASA has approved a mission to investigate the atmosphere of Mars.
obligation	A binding agreement committing a person to a payment or other action. I have an obligation to look after her.
occupation	A way of spending time. A game of cards is a pretty harmless occupation.
onus	An onerous or difficult concern. The onus is on you to show that you have suffered loss.
piece of business	An artistic or literary composition.
piece of work	A period of indeterminate length (usually short) marked by some action or condition.
problem	A question raised for consideration or solution. Practitioners help families develop strategies for managing problem behaviour in teens.
purport	The meaning or sense of something, typically a document or speech. I do not understand the purport of your remarks.
quest	A search for an alternative that meets cognitive criteria. A quest for wealth.
refrain	The part of a song where a soloist is joined by a group of singers.
responsibility	The opportunity or ability to act independently and take decisions without authorization. We expect individuals to take on more responsibility.
sense	Relating to or denoting a coding sequence of nucleotides complementary to an antisense sequence. I can t see the sense in leaving all the work to you.
significance	The quality of being significant. Adolescent education was felt to be a social issue of some significance.
signification	The message that is intended or expressed or signified. Film comes closer than other forms of signification to resemblance of reality.
spirit	The attitude or intentions with which someone undertakes or regards something. He was a leading spirit in the conference.
strain	An intense or violent exertion. She s under considerable strain.
substance	Material of a particular kind or constitution. He was suspended for using a banned substance.
tenor	An adult male with a tenor voice. Nothing disturbed the even tenor of her ways.
thesis	An unstressed syllable or part of a metrical foot in Greek or Latin verse. A doctoral thesis.
undertaking	The action of undertaking to do something. I give an undertaking that we shall proceed with the legislation.
venture	Any venturesome undertaking especially one with an uncertain outcome. A joint venture between two aircraft manufacturers.
weight	A system of units used to express the weight of something. He placed two weights in the scale pan.

Usage Examples of "Burden" as a noun

• The burden of establishing that the authority had misused its powers rests upon the prosecution.
• The tax burden on low-wage earners.
• The burden of responsibility.
• The schooner Wyoming, of about 6,000 tons burden.

Burden as a Verb

Definitions of "Burden" as a verb

According to the Oxford Dictionary of English, “burden” as a verb can have the following definitions:

• Load heavily.
• Weight down with a load.
• Impose a task upon, assign a responsibility to.
• Cause (someone) worry, hardship, or distress.

Synonyms of "Burden" as a verb (10 Words)

burthen	Weight down with a load.
cause suffering to	Give rise to; cause to happen or occur, not always intentionally.
cause trouble to	Cause to do; cause to act in a specified manner.
charge	Cause formation of a net electrical charge in or on. He charged his weapon at me.
load	Of a ship or vehicle take on a load. The King and Queen loaded Columbus with wealth and honours.
oppress	Come down on or keep down by unjust use of one’s authority. A system which oppressed working people.
saddle	Put a saddle on a horse. He saddled me with that heavy responsibility.
trouble	Take the trouble to do something concern oneself. He was not troubled by doubts.
weight	Assign a handicap weight to a horse. The jugs were covered with muslin veils weighted with coloured beads.
weight down	Weight down with a load.

Usage Examples of "Burden" as a verb

• They were not yet burdened with adult responsibility.
• She walked forwards burdened with a wooden box.

Associations of "Burden" (30 Words)

burdensome	Not easily borne; wearing. The burdensome task of preparing the income tax return.
cargo	Goods carried on a ship, aircraft, or motor vehicle. Transportation of bulk cargo.
demanding	(of a person) making others work hard or meet high standards; not easily satisfied. She has a busy and demanding job.
difficult	Hard to control. She had a difficult decision to make.
encumber	Restrict (someone or something) so as to make free movement difficult. They had arrived encumbered with families.
encumbrance	Any obstruction that impedes or is burdensome. For parents childhood is too long a period of encumbrance.
exacting	Requiring precise accuracy. An exacting job.
expeditionary	Designed for military operations abroad. The French expeditionary force in Indochina.
grueling	Characterized by effort to the point of exhaustion; especially physical effort. A grueling campaign.
heavy	Large and powerful especially designed for heavy loads or rough work. Heavy traffic.
inequitable	Unfair; unjust. Inequitable taxation.
laborious	Characterized by effort to the point of exhaustion; especially physical effort. The work is very slow and laborious.
lade	Ship (goods) as cargo. Vessels lade there.
laden	Fill or place a load on. Table laden with food.
lading	A cargo.
load	Fill or place a load on. The increased load on the heart caused by a raised arterial pressure.
loaded	(of statements or questions) charged with associative significance and often meant to mislead or influence. It s Friday night and we want to get loaded.
luggage	Suitcases or other bags in which to pack personal belongings for travelling. Upon landing we waited and waited for our luggage.
onerous	Not easily borne; wearing. My duties weren t onerous I only had to greet the guests.
onus	An onerous or difficult concern. The onus is on you to show that you have suffered loss.
oppress	Cause distress or anxiety to. The government oppresses political activists.
packing	A charge made when delivering goods to cover the cost of packing them. Polystyrene packing.
shipment	The act of sending off something. Logs waiting for shipment.
taxing	Not easily borne; wearing. A taxing schedule.
tricky	Not to be trusted. Tricky Dick.
troublesome	Difficult to deal with. A troublesome infection.
uncomfortable	Conducive to or feeling mental discomfort. An uncomfortable way of surprising me just when I felt surest.
unload	Leave or unload. She hadn t finished unloading the car.
wearing	The mechanical process of wearing or grinding something down as by particles washing over it. The visit was especially wearing.
weight	Assign a handicap weight to a horse. The progression implied an increasing weightiness of the items listed.