How to Use encumber in a Sentence

encumber

verb
  • Lack of funding has encumbered the project.
  • These rules will only encumber the people we're trying to help.
  • The block is encumbered with three ground leases.
    — Matthew Geiger, Denver Post, 19 Sep. 2025
  • This time around, Trump will not be encumbered by such a vice president.
    — Jay Nordlinger, National Review, 8 Jan. 2025
  • Dallas is encumbered in its ability to deal a first-round pick.
    — Chris Fedor, cleveland, 24 Jan. 2020
  • There is no formal art training to encumber your pure expression.
    — Borys Kit, The Hollywood Reporter, 20 July 2023
  • Hensley ran off at record-breaking speed for a man encumbered with a large bellows instrument.
    — Andrew Hamlin, sandiegouniontribune.com, 8 Mar. 2018
  • Laptops and tablets may also be encumbered with the 25% import levy.
    — Mark Gurman, Fortune, 28 June 2019
  • Mathurin hasn't hit a rookie wall in part because he's encumbered by almost zero self-doubt.
    — Dustin Dopirak, The Indianapolis Star, 22 Mar. 2023
  • There’re points in the game where the addition of details — both old and new — becomes encumbering.
    — Christopher Cruz, Rolling Stone, 22 Feb. 2024
  • But in fact there could have been nothing worse than to encumber himself with the obligation to form and control children.
    — Rachel Cusk, Harper's Magazine, 10 Sep. 2023
  • When my parents finally left, they were encumbered with office files and binders my father refused to throw away.
    — Deepak Unnikrishnan, Foreign Affairs, 7 Feb. 2020
  • Many runners don’t like being encumbered with a handheld or hydration packs, but if the heat is extreme, don’t leave it to chance.
    — Brion O’Connor, BostonGlobe.com, 25 July 2019
  • One man told us to embrace a kind of youthful workaholism, before we became encumbered by kids and families.
    — Clare Malone, The New Yorker, 10 Feb. 2024
  • In a cast of hurt people, Derek is the most happy-go-lucky, the least encumbered by demons and insecurity.
    — Ben Rosenstock, Vulture, 20 Nov. 2024
  • The hope is that the testbed will remove much of the red tape that might otherwise encumber partnering with the government.
    — Adi Gaskell, Forbes, 4 Oct. 2021
  • Toyota only has two victories, and both were from Martin Truex Jr. In Fords for Team Penske, Keselowski has two wins this season while Joey Logano has one, which is encumbered.
    — Michelle R. Martinelli, USA TODAY, 6 July 2017
  • Still, in scene after scene, their exchanges are encumbered by complex music roiling in the orchestra.
    — New York Times, 1 June 2018
  • Many of the challenges become so encumbered by limitations that the food itself suffers.
    — Randall Colburn, EW.com, 13 Mar. 2025
  • As a result, Hamlin's win in the Irish Hills 250 was ruled encumbered.
    — Detroit Free Press, 21 June 2017
  • Sometimes no means no, and that should be the case every time there is a request to develop land encumbered by a conservation easement.
    — The Denver Post Editorial Board, The Denver Post, 13 Nov. 2019
  • An artist from a rich family who perceived himself as a failure, Cézanne was pressed forward by a sense of encumbering shame and a need to show them.
    — Adam Gopnik, Town & Country, 5 Mar. 2023
  • The labs, which are not encumbered by interior columns or walls, should be able to adapt to shifting research priorities.
    — Blair Kamin, chicagotribune.com, 13 June 2019
  • Get our daily newsletter That might seem an odd description for a country embroiled in two wars and encumbered by sanctions.
    — The Economist, 1 Mar. 2018
  • It will be encumbered neither by norms nor the exigencies that compel speech in a democratic society.
    — Casey Ryan Kelly, The Conversation, 9 Mar. 2026
  • The greatest contribution the world economy can make to this project is to enable, rather than encumber, that correction.
    — Dani Rodrik, Foreign Affairs, 11 June 2019
  • Backlogs have caused unbearably long wait times for results, and the coming flu season might further encumber test processing.
    — Keith Gillogly, Wired, 15 Sep. 2020
  • The land is thus financially encumbered and won’t be availble to be leased or sold until 2031 or after.
    — Eric Adler august 23, Kansas City Star, 23 Aug. 2025
  • Slowly, desparatly slowly, the remains of passage debris that encumbered the lower part of the doorway was removed.
    — Kim Zetter, WIRED, 21 Nov. 2010
  • For this reason, the alliance has chosen not to encumber itself with subcommittees and formal working groups.
    — IEEE Spectrum, 2 Mar. 2017

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'encumber.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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