Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Lacking grace or ease of movement or form; clumsy.
- adjective Difficult to move or use; unwieldy.
from The Century Dictionary.
- In an awkward manner; clumsily; uncouthly.
- Unfit; vain.
- Awkward; clumsy; uncouth: as, an ungainly carriage.
- Synonyms Uncouth, Bungling, etc. See
awkward and clumsy.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adverb In an ungainly manner.
- adjective Not gainly; not expert or dexterous; clumsy; awkward; uncouth.
- adjective obsolete Unsuitable; unprofitable.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective
clumsy ; lackinggrace . - adjective
difficult tomove or tomanage ;unwieldy .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective difficult to handle or manage especially because of shape
- adjective lacking grace in movement or posture
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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We must keep our girls from contact with all that is coarse and debasing; must teach them to behave properly at home and abroad; and not to sit and lounge about or stand in ungainly attitudes; and read books which serve only to inflame the passions, and not to improve either mind or manners.
A Manual of Etiquette with Hints on Politeness and Good Breeding Sophia Orne 1873
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Jacqueline, but we had always called her Jack, for brevity, and because, with her cropped head and rough ways, she resembled a boy more than a girl; her hair was growing now, and hung about her neck in short ungainly lengths, but I doubt whether in its present stage it was any improvement.
Esther : a book for girls Rosa Nouchette Carey 1874
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On an analysis based on, you know, around airports, where could a man with a pipe-like device, which is kind of ungainly and big and long and has a signature, where could that person just stand upright or even be in a kind of concealed position and let one of these missiles go?
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Consumer Reports said the Tahoe's handling was "ungainly" and its stopping distances too long.
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Consumer Reports said the Tahoe's handling was "ungainly" and its stopping distances too long.
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Consumer Reports said the Tahoe's handling was "ungainly" and its stopping distances too long.
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Simone: Dania "doesn't love" it; Nigel calls it "ungainly" and lacking sensuality; Tyra thinks she could be stronger
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Simone: Dania "doesn't love" it; Nigel calls it "ungainly" and lacking sensuality; Tyra thinks she could be stronger
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Cowell called her performance "ungainly" and "gimmicky" and he hated her outfit.
TV Envy 2009
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The thing that is ungainly, vulnerable, embarrassing.
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