ungainly

(ŭn-gān'lē)
adj., -li·er, -li·est.

1. Lacking grace or ease of movement or form; clumsy.
2. Difficult to move or use; unwieldy.

[UN-¹ + obsolete gainly, proper (from Middle English gainli , from gain , from Old Norse gegn, direct).]

ungainliness un·gain'li·ness n.

View more Literature & Language videos

adjective

1. Lacking dexterity and grace in physical movement: awkward, clumsy, gawky, graceless, inept, lumpish, maladroit, ungraceful. Slang klutzy. Idioms: all thumbs. See ability/inability.
2. Difficult to handle or manage: awkward, bulky, clumsy, unhandy, unmanageable, unwieldy. See easy/hard.

IN BRIEF: Clumsy. Also: Awkward.

It was difficult to carry the ungainly package so far.

LearnThatWord.com is a free vocabulary and spelling program where you only pay for results!

For a list of words related to ungainly, see:

• Ugly, unattractive, or malformed

---

See words rhyming with "ungainly."

  See crossword solutions for the clue Ungainly.

Dansk (Danish)
adj. - klodset, kejtet, uskøn

Nederlands (Dutch)
onhandig

Français (French)
adj. - gauche, maladroit
adv. - avec maladresse

Deutsch (German)
adj. - linkisch, unbeholfen
adv. - linkisch, unbeholfen

Ελληνική (Greek)
adj. - αδέξιος, άγαρμπος, άχαρος
adv. - αδέξια, άγαρμπα, άχαρα

Italiano (Italian)
goffo

Português (Portuguese)
adj. - deselegante
adv. - deselegantemente

Русский (Russian)
неуклюжий, громоздкий

Español (Spanish)
adj. - desgarbado, torpe
adv. - torpemente, desgarbadamente

Svenska (Swedish)
adj. - klumpig, otymplig
adv. - klumpigt, otympligt

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
难看的, 丑陋的, 不象样的

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
adj. - 難看的, 醜陋的, 不象樣的

한국어 (Korean)
adj. - 볼품 없는, 볼쌍 사나운

日本語 (Japanese)
adj. - 不格好な, 見苦しい

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(صفه) غير رشيق, اخرق, غليظ, ثقيل (ظرف) بطريقه مربكه, أخرق‏

עברית (Hebrew)
adj. - ‮חסר-חן, מגושם‬

If you are unable to view some languages clearly, click here.

To select your translation preferences click here.