# burden

/ˈbɝdən/ (US) · /bˈɜːdən/ (UK)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/burden
Updated: 2026-06-19

## Senses

### 1. a responsibility

noun · CEFR B2

a duty or responsibility that is hard to deal with.

For teachers: a duty, responsibility, or emotional weight that is difficult to bear.

- The cost of the new house became a heavy financial burden for the family.
- The administrative burden placed upon the teaching staff has increased significantly since the introduction of the new assessment protocols.

### 2. a heavy load

noun · CEFR B2

a physical load that is heavy to carry.

For teachers: a physical load or weight being carried.

- The donkey struggled to walk under the heavy burden of the wood.
- The porters distributed the burden equally among the team to ensure they could reach the base camp before nightfall.

### 3. medical amount

noun · CEFR C1 · Technical

the total amount of something harmful, like a virus or poison, in a body.

For teachers: the total quantity of a harmful substance, parasite, or pathogen present in an organism.

- The doctor checked the patient's viral burden to see if the medicine was working.
- The study aimed to quantify the total body burden of heavy metals in the local population following the industrial accident.

### 4. recurring theme

noun · CEFR C2 · Literary

the main idea or a part of a song that repeats.

For teachers: a recurring theme or the chorus of a song; the central idea of a piece of writing.

- The burden of his speech was that we must all work together.
- The haunting burden of the ballad was repeated by the choir after every stanza, creating a sense of inevitable tragedy.

### 5. to weigh down

verb · CEFR B2

to give someone a difficult job or a lot of things to carry.

For teachers: to load someone with a physical or figurative weight; to encumber.

- I don't want to burden you with my problems while you are on holiday.
- The company was heavily burdened by debt, making it difficult to attract new investors for the expansion project.

## Examples

- The heavy backpack was a burden on the long hike.
- The high interest rates on his student loans became a significant financial burden after he lost his job.
- The ethical burden of the decision weighed heavily on the committee, as their choice would affect the livelihoods of thousands of workers across the region.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.