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Ponderous vs Behemoth - What's the difference?

ponderous | behemoth |

As an adjective ponderous

is heavy, massive, weighty.

As a noun behemoth is

a great and mighty beast God shows Job in Job 40:15-24.

ponderous

English

Adjective

(en adjective)
  • Heavy, massive, weighty.
  • * 1879 , , Archibald Malmaison , ch. 5:
  • [H]e saw, at the end of a shallow embrasure, a ponderous door of dark wood, braced with iron.
  • * Edgar B. P. Darlington, The Circus Boys on the Flying Rings , ch. 4:
  • The great elephant, when the cage was being placed, would, at a signal from its keeper, place its ponderous head against one side of the cage and push.
  • (figuratively, by extension) Serious, onerous, oppressive.
  • * 1781 , , Lives of the Poets , "Dryden":
  • It was Dryden's opinion . . . that the drama required an alternation of comick and tragick scenes; and that it is necessary to mitigate, by alleviations of merriment, the pressure of ponderous events, and the fatigue of toilsome passions.
  • * 1845 , , Pictures From Italy , ch. 11:
  • In its court-yard—worthy of the Castle of Otranto in its ponderous gloom—is a massive staircase.
  • * 1915 , , The Voyage Out , ch. 19:
  • For the time, her own body was the source of all the life in the world, which tried to burst forth here—there—and was repressed now by Mr. Bax, now by Evelyn, now by the imposition of ponderous stupidity.
  • Clumsy, unwieldy, or slow, especially due to weight.
  • * 1915 , , Little Miss Grouch , ch. 10:
  • Slowly, through an increasing glow that lighted land and water alike, the leviathan of the deep made her ponderous progress to the hill-encircled harbor.
  • * 1919 , , "Kew Gardens":
  • Following his steps . . . came two elderly women of the lower middle class, one stout and ponderous , the other rosy cheeked and nimble.
  • Dull, boring, tedious; long-winded in expression.
  • * 1863 , , "Cousin Phillis":
  • Over supper the minister did unbend a little into one or two ponderous jokes.
  • * 1918 , , A Daughter Of The Land , ch. 2:
  • [A]s certainly as any one said anything in her presence that she had occasion to repeat, she changed the wording to six-syllabled mouthfuls, delivered with ponderous circumlocution.
  • (rare) Characterized by or associated with pondering.
  • * , "Sermon Upon John III" in Works of Thomas Manton (2002 edition), ISBN 9781589603462, p. 464:
  • Ponderous thoughts take hold of the heart; musing maketh the fire to burn, and steady sight hath the greatest influence upon us.
  • * 1804 , The Literary Magazine and American Register , vol. 2, no. 7, p. 10:
  • The acute and ponderous mind of Dr. Johnson was not always right in its decisions.
  • * 1850 , Fraser's Magazine for Town and Country , vol. 41, p. 242:
  • They are the pleasantest of all companions, and perhaps the most affluent in correct opinions of men and things generally , although little addicted to ponderous consideration or deep research.
  • (obsolete) Dense.
  • Synonyms

    * heavy, massive * oppressive, serious

    Derived terms

    * ponderously * ponderousness

    behemoth

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (Bible) A great and mighty beast God shows Job in Job 40:15-24.
  • A great and mighty monster.
  • Something which has the qualities of great power and might, and monstrous proportions.
  • * {{quote-news, date=2011-01-18
  • , first=Joe , last=Lovejoy , title=Cardiff City 0 Stoke City 2 , newspaper=Guardian Online citation , page= , passage=The diehards who did turn out were at least rewarded with a first sight of Jon Parkin, the behemoth striker signed from Preston, who scored a stunning goal on his debut at Norwich last weekend.}}

    Synonyms

    * (something of great size and power ): colossus, leviathan, mammoth, titan

    Quotations

    * *: Behold now behemoth , which I made with thee; he eateth grass as an ox.
    Lo now, his strength is in his loins, and his force is in the navel of his belly.
    He moveth his tail like a cedar: the sinews of his stones are wrapped together.
    His bones are as strong pieces of brass; his bones are like bars of iron. * 2001 — , Artemis Fowl , p 58 *: Next she doused the smouldering troll with the contents of the restaurant's fire extinguisher, hoping the icy powder wouldn't revive the sleeping behemoth .

    Derived terms

    * behemothian * behemothic

    See also

    * leviathan