ungainly

[uhn-geyn-lee]

adjective

ungainlier, ungainliest 

1. not graceful; awkward; unwieldy; clumsy.

   an ungainly child; an ungainly prose style.

adverb

1. in an awkward manner.

ungainly

/ ʌnˈɡeɪnlɪ /

adjective

1. lacking grace when moving

2. difficult to move or use; unwieldy

3. rare,  crude or coarse

adverb

1. rare,  clumsily

Other Word Forms

• ungainliness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of ungainly¹

1150–1200; (adv.) Middle English ungeinliche, equivalent to un- un- ¹ + later Middle English geyn straight, well-disposed, handy (< Old Norse gegn straight, direct; compare Old Norse ūgegn unreasonable) + -liche -ly; (adj.) un- ¹ + obsolete gainly proper, becoming, gracious, Middle English gaynlych ( geyn as above + -lych -ly ); gainly, again

Word History and Origins

Origin of ungainly¹

C17: from _un- ¹ + obsolete or dialect _gainly graceful

Example Sentences

Everyone agrees it looks ungainly, but it's the least worst solution in the circumstances.

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When her rival, Poot’s Thea, arrives underdressed, Hedda forces her into a hideous frock with fussy bows and an ungainly skirt.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Sam Quinones celebrates this ungainly instrument and its players in “The Perfect Tuba,” a delightfully offbeat book with unexpectedly profound overtones.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Trundling up an ungainly lift to reach a second-story balcony seems like Woody Allen’s hapless bank robber trying to tunnel his way into vaults in “Small Time Crooks.”

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In a bid to purge subjectivity, the definitions were written in a style that was minutely descriptive but might charitably be called ungainly.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• awkward 
• bulky 
• clumsy 
• unwieldy