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Synonyms

ungainly

American  
[uhn-geyn-lee] / ʌnˈgeɪn li /

adjective

ungainlier, ungainliest

  1. not graceful; awkward; unwieldy; clumsy.

    an ungainly child; an ungainly prose style.

adverb

  1. in an awkward manner.

ungainly British  
/ ʌnˈɡeɪnlɪ /

adjective

  1. lacking grace when moving

  2. difficult to move or use; unwieldy

  3. rare crude or coarse

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

adverb

  1. rare clumsily

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

  • ungainliness noun

Etymology

Origin of ungainly

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

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.