1
as in clumsy
difficult to use or operate especially because of size, weight, or design
getting the ungainly couch up the stairs was a real chore
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in awkward
having or showing an inability to move in a graceful manner
the tree cutter was crushing any unlucky petunias that lay in the path of his ungainly tread
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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.
Recent Examples of ungainly
Examples imported from 1975 through 1985 had rather ungainly impact bumpers, so early, chrome-bumper cars are aesthetically more desirable.
—
Robert Ross, Robb Report, 21 Feb. 2025
You're locked into an ungainly, spread armed, weak kneed
Character: snowplow.
—Outside Online, 19 Feb. 2025
And Farley was wild, crashing through tables, cramming himself into ungainly costumes, and going full red-faced dynamo mode all in pursuit of every last laugh in the building.
—Dennis Perkins, EW.com, 16 Feb. 2025
Straining for its ungainly combination of action, romance and silly comedy, Love Hurts doesn’t fully succeed in any department.
—Frank Scheck, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Sep. 2019
See All Example Sentences for ungainly
Robert Ross, Robb Report, 21 Feb. 2025
You're locked into an ungainly, spread armed, weak kneed
Character: snowplow.
—Outside Online, 19 Feb. 2025
And Farley was wild, crashing through tables, cramming himself into ungainly costumes, and going full red-faced dynamo mode all in pursuit of every last laugh in the building.
—Dennis Perkins, EW.com, 16 Feb. 2025
Straining for its ungainly combination of action, romance and silly comedy, Love Hurts doesn’t fully succeed in any department.
—Frank Scheck, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Sep. 2019
See All Example Sentences for ungainly
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ungainly
Adjective
-
At times, Alcaraz was almost as clumsy as Federer in his last hurrah here against Hubert Hurkacz in 2021.—
Tim Ellis,
Forbes.com,
30 June 2025
-
But things get weighed down by a clumsy body-swapping plot and a pairing between Joe and 22 that never fully pays off.—
Barry Levitt,
Time,
26 June 2025
Adjective
-
Advertisement Advertisement To illustrate this point, consider the best man at a wedding who, instead of celebrating the couple, shares personal stories that only serve to embarrass them, often with awkward details that have no place in such a tender moment.—
Matt Abrahams,
Time,
12 July 2025
-
An historic night at Madison Square Garden on Friday night turned into an awkward moment in the wee hours of Saturday morning at the Taylor-Serrano 3 post-fight press conference.—
Ryan Morik,
FOXNews.com,
12 July 2025
Adjective
-
Looming large is the thorny issue of Washington and how to handle Trump and his unwieldy and unpredictable tariffs regime that could affect severely impact European and global economic growth.—
Holly Ellyatt,
CNBC,
8 July 2025
-
But using SAVE for this sort of verification was unwieldy.—
Miles Parks,
NPR,
28 June 2025
Adjective
-
Agnes has a gawky, floppy-haired beauty, a gently appraising stare, quizzically arching eyebrows, and a tendency to listen with her mouth half open, as if in anticipation of a punch line that will take her, and us, by surprise.—
Justin Chang,
New Yorker,
20 June 2025
-
Hiccup, played this time with game and gawky charm by Mason Thames, has been raised to think the only solution to violence is more violence.—
Amy Nicholson,
Los Angeles Times,
11 June 2025
Adjective
-
Big, cumbersome, and greasy, baking sheets can be a pain to clean and dry off.—
Daley Quinn,
Southern Living,
30 June 2025
-
The actions come as deepfakes have become increasingly common, affecting celebrities such as pop star Taylor Swift and even Pope Francis as well as many less famous people, and also grown more cumbersome to identify as AI-generated.—
Solcyré Burga,
Time,
27 June 2025
Adjective
-
As the uncertainty wears on, business leaders face an unsteady economic future, meaning Indiana could see less hiring and less investment in the local economy, Hummels said.—
Alysa Guffey,
IndyStar,
2 July 2025
-
With Showtime launched in 2023 after a couple of unsteady years as a bundle of the two discrete services — the stand-alone streamer Paramount+ (f.k.a.—
Eric Vilas-Boas,
Vulture,
24 June 2025
Adjective
-
Rushing into a patchwork of uncoordinated state laws will only slow American innovation and give China an opportunity to surge ahead and win this tech race.—
Kristen Waggoner,
MSNBC Newsweek,
24 June 2025
-
Unlike the pharmaceutical industry, biotech is relatively uncoordinated, with fewer centralized bodies dedicated to regulation or information sharing.—
Eric Schmidt,
Time,
29 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Ungainly.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ungainly. Accessed 15 Jul. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share