graceless

American  

[greys-lis] / ˈgreɪs lɪs /

adjective

1. lacking grace, pleasing elegance, or charm.

2. without any sense of right or propriety.

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graceless British  

/ ˈɡreɪslɪs /

adjective

1. lacking any sense of right and wrong; depraved

2. lacking grace or excellence

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Other Word Forms

• gracelessly
  adverb
• gracelessness
  noun

Etymology

Origin of graceless

Middle English word dating back to 1325–75; see origin at grace, -less

Explanation

Someone who's graceless is awkward or uncoordinated. Graceless means without grace, by being physically clumsy or by having no manners. A graceless dancer steps on toes, and a graceless winner rubs it in. People can be graceless in their physical movements or actions, like a graceless ballet dancer who thumps heavily across the stage. Or they can be graceless in their words or behavior, like a graceless stand-up comic who isn't funny, just rude and boorish. Graceless originally meant "not in a state of grace," with grace defined as "God's love." A more modern meaning of grace is "beauty of form or movement."

Example Sentences

In the Starkadders’ home, breakfast means congealed porridge, and cows are called Feckless, Aimless, Graceless and Pointless.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 12, 2025

In addition, a song called “Sitong Bridge,” a soft-rock tune by the band Mr. Graceless was removed from Chinese music apps.

From New York Times • Oct. 14, 2022

Buy the CDDownload as MP3 John Murry The Graceless Age Rubyworks 2013 Tell us what you think: Rate and review this album John Murry is now 33.

From The Guardian • Jun. 4, 2013

Though Murry long ago escaped to California, it's the dank, fetid heat of his ancestral homeland that hangs over The Graceless Age.

From The Guardian • Jun. 4, 2013

"Graceless child," I said, "you don't seem to be aware that in my earliest boyhood I once began to knit a sock."

From Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 147, October 28, 1914 by Various