heavy-footed

[ hev-ee-foot-id ]

adjective

1. clumsy or ponderous, as in movement or expressiveness:

   music that is heavy-footed and uninspired.

heavy-footed

adjective

1. having a heavy or clumsy tread

Other Words From

• heavy-footed·ness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of heavy-footed¹

First recorded in 1615–25

Example Sentences

There’s the usual heavy-footed deployment of the “comedy! comedy!” score to cue us to laugh or have feelings.

From Los Angeles Times

There is simply and once again Reeves, the axis who centers this franchise with his grave sincerity, beatific glow and mesmerizing, rooted fighting style, with its heavy-footed solidity and surprising suppleness.

From New York Times

But based on their frozen grins, they apparently enjoyed jogging from room to room with the heavy-footed gait of a football nose tackle to do nothing in particular.

From New York Times

But the side-facing eyes of buffalos, zebras, and other heavy-footed mammals would be hard to hit with a single jet of venom, Casewell notes.

From Science Magazine

Posting batches of tickets or three-digit radar-gun readings on social media has become a popular pastime for police precincts, if not a deterrent for heavy-footed scofflaws.

From New York Times

Related Words

• hulking
• ungainly
• unwieldy