inelegant

[ in-el-i-guhnt ]

adjective

1. not elegant; lacking in refinement, gracefulness, or good taste.

inelegant

/ ɪnˈɛlɪɡənt /

adjective

1. lacking in elegance or refinement; unpolished or graceless
2. coarse or crude

Derived Forms

• inˈelegantly, adverb
• inˈelegance, noun

Other Words From

• in·ele·gant·ly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of inelegant¹

First recorded in 1500–10, inelegant is from the Latin word inēlegant- (stem of inēlegāns ). See in- ³, elegant

Example Sentences

The 2024 election will test again whether this inelegant compromise by the founders stands up to the assertion once made by Attorney General Ramsey Clark: “Most faults are not in our Constitution, but in ourselves.”

From Salon

In a single-star review, the Guardian's Benjamin Lee called the film "as dumb and schlocky as the worst of the genre, with lousy network TV effects, uninvolving action and unfunny and inelegant dialogue".

From BBC

In another sign of Washington’s uneven and inelegant recovery, a cooling tech industry has been overtaken by a cash-strapped healthcare sector as the state’s hottest job market.

From Seattle Times

According to Sharon’s program notes, the idea behind this inelegant shuffle play was to create a “visual depiction of interwoven humanity.”

From Washington Post

The work of accepting this is inelegant and often challenging.

From New York Times