as in clumsy
difficult to use or operate especially because of size, weight, or design
an unwieldy machine that requires two people to operate it
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of unwieldy
Choose open industrial shelves Insert some industrial wire shelving units to stock full of garden tools or unwieldy seasonal items like holiday decor.
—
Michelle Mastro, Architectural Digest, 23 Oct. 2025
Education Department officials blame the prior administration for the unwieldy state of the federal student loan system.
—Danielle Douglas-Gabriel The Washington Post, Arkansas Online, 19 Oct. 2025
Each of these varied forms, when understood as a solution to Euler’s equations, is mathematically distinct and terribly unwieldy.
—Joseph Howlett, Quanta Magazine, 15 Oct. 2025
Democrats, however, blasted Earle-Sears’s constant interruptions during the debate as unwieldy.
—Mabinty Quarshie, The Washington Examiner, 11 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for unwieldy
Michelle Mastro, Architectural Digest, 23 Oct. 2025
Education Department officials blame the prior administration for the unwieldy state of the federal student loan system.
—Danielle Douglas-Gabriel The Washington Post, Arkansas Online, 19 Oct. 2025
Each of these varied forms, when understood as a solution to Euler’s equations, is mathematically distinct and terribly unwieldy.
—Joseph Howlett, Quanta Magazine, 15 Oct. 2025
Democrats, however, blasted Earle-Sears’s constant interruptions during the debate as unwieldy.
—Mabinty Quarshie, The Washington Examiner, 11 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for unwieldy
Recent Examples of Synonyms for unwieldy
Adjective
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For starters, even at 4 mm by 4 mm, the Utah array would be too big and clumsy a hunk of hardware for Science to implant in the eye or Synchron to thread through a vein.—
Jeffrey Kluger,
Time,
6 Nov. 2025
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What resulted is one of the most comic, counterproductive, and clumsy episodes in the long history of British efforts to deal with Ireland.—
The New Yorker,
New Yorker,
29 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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The rise of digital payment systems has made tipping both easier and more awkward, especially when prompts appear at counters, kiosks and drive-thru windows.—
Peter Burke,
FOXNews.com,
9 Nov. 2025
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Use this a couple of times a week for smoother, brighter skin (without getting sunburnt and sand in awkward places).—
Christa Joanna Lee,
Allure,
9 Nov. 2025
Adjective
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Director Michael Arden, meanwhile, is up to his elbows just moving the cumbersome Legos of Dane Laffrey’s set around.—
Sara Holdren,
Vulture,
10 Nov. 2025
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The government has relaxed its once-cumbersome visa process and invested heavily in airport and road upgrades to make the country’s immense, underexplored landscapes more accessible.—
Mark Ellwood,
AFAR Media,
7 Nov. 2025
Adjective
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The movie begins in 1989, when Martin was just out of her teens and fighting in Toughwoman contests, and spans 22 years, providing all sorts of opportunities for ungainly period hairstyles, from a ragged pageboy to a curly mullet to a frizzy shag.—
Alison Willmore,
Vulture,
7 Nov. 2025
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All loads easier than wrangling an ungainly bird half the table doesn’t really much care for anyway (what?—
Shilpa Uskokovic,
Bon Appetit Magazine,
31 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Even amid some clunky exposition, Welcome to Derry has at least managed to offer compelling horror set pieces to keep heart rates up.—
Louis Peitzman,
Vulture,
10 Nov. 2025
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For millions across China, especially those who watch the US from a fascinated digital distance, Chen became a one-man portal into the American presidency, without the clunky geopolitical baggage.—
Mike Valerio,
CNN Money,
8 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Unwieldy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unwieldy. Accessed 13 Nov. 2025.
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