ungainly

adjective

un·​gain·​ly ˌən-ˈgān-lē How to pronounce ungainly (audio)
1
a
: lacking in smoothness or dexterity : clumsy
ungainly movements
b
: hard to handle : unwieldy
an ungainly contraption
2
: having an awkward appearance
a large ungainly bird
ungainliness noun

Did you know?

What do you have to gain by knowing the root of ungainly? Plenty. The gain in ungainly is an obsolete English adjective meaning "direct" that ultimately comes from the Old Norse preposition gegn, meaning "against." (It is unrelated to the noun in "economic gains" or the verb in "gain an advantage"; those came to English by way of Anglo-French.) Ungainly can describe someone who is clumsy, as in "a tall, ungainly man"; or something that causes you to feel clumsy when you try to handle it, as in "a car with ungainly controls"; or something that simply looks awkward and out of place, as in "an ungainly strip mall."

Examples of ungainly in a Sentence

He was tall and ungainly. getting the ungainly couch up the stairs was a real chore
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
On land, hippos appear slow and ungainly. Francois Botha, Forbes.com, 7 Sep. 2025 An absolute charmer, The Tale of Silyan is an affecting look at the human-avian bond, with all its mysteries, warmth and ungainly practicalities. Sheri Linden, HollywoodReporter, 31 Aug. 2025 All signatory state parties would have to agree to add a new pathogen (or new type of organism of concern) to the convention, an ungainly process of herding cats that could make this effort hard to achieve. Liyam Chitayat, Foreign Affairs, 28 Aug. 2025 On the other, the quick and almost casual way in which Kirsh runs through what he’s figured out is emblematic of an ungainly episode that seems in a rush to get through a lot of things, especially where the Xenomorph is concerned. Alan Sepinwall, Rolling Stone, 19 Aug. 2025 See All Example Sentences for ungainly

Word History

Etymology

obsolete gain direct, from Middle English gayn, geyn, from Old English gēn, from Old Norse gegn, from gegn, preposition, against; akin to Old English gēan- against — more at again

First Known Use

1611, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Time Traveler
The first known use of ungainly was in 1611

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Cite this Entry

“Ungainly.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ungainly. Accessed 11 Sep. 2025.

Kids Definition

ungainly

adjective
un·​gain·​ly ˌən-ˈgān-lē How to pronounce ungainly (audio)
ungainliness noun

More from Merriam-Webster on ungainly

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