From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishencumberen‧cum‧ber /ɪnˈkʌmbə $ -ər/ verb [transitive] formalSLOW to make it difficult for you to do something or for something to happen SYN burden He died in 1874, heavily encumbered by debt.be encumbered with something The whole process was encumbered with bureaucracy.Grammar Encumber is usually passive. —encumbrance noun [countable]→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
encumber• To be human is merely to encumber the turning of the wheel.• Why should we encumber them with cultural constraints they do not need?be encumbered with something• Belarus' economy is still encumbered with inefficient state-owned factories.Origin encumber (1300-1400) Old French encombrer, from combre “something that prevents movement” 