Ungainly \Un*gain"ly\, a. [OE. ungeinliche, adv., fr. ungein
inconvenient; un- + Icel. gegn ready, serviceable; adv.,
against, opposite. See Un- not, and Gain, a., Again.]
[1913 Webster]
1. Not gainly; not expert or dexterous; clumsy; awkward;
uncouth; as, an ungainly strut in walking.
[1913 Webster]
His ungainly figure and eccentric manners.
--Macaulay.
[1913 Webster]
2. Unsuitable; unprofitable. [Obs.] --Hammond.
[1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Ungainly \Un*gain"ly\, adv.
In an ungainly manner.
[1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
ungainly
adj 1: lacking grace in movement or posture; "a gawky lad with long
ungainly legs"; "clumsy fingers"; "what an ungainly
creature a giraffe is"; "heaved his unwieldy figure
out of his chair" [syn: gawky, clumsy, clunky, unwieldy]
2: difficult to handle or manage especially because of shape;
"an awkward bundle to carry"; "a load of bunglesome
paraphernalia"; "clumsy wooden shoes"; "the cello, a
rather ungainly instrument for a girl" [syn: awkward, bunglesome,
clumsy]
[also: ungainliest, ungainlier]
WordNet (r) 2.0
42 Moby Thesaurus words for "ungainly":
all thumbs, awkward, blunderheaded, blundering, boorish, bumbling,
bungling, butterfingered, careless, clownish, clumsy,
clumsy-fisted, cumbersome, fingers all thumbs, fumbling, gauche,
gawkish, gawky, graceless, ham-fisted, ham-handed, heavy-handed,
hulking, hulky, inelegant, left-hand, left-handed, loutish,
lubberly, lumbering, lumpish, maladroit, oafish, ponderous, sloppy,
splay, stiff, uncouth, ungraced, ungraceful, unhandy, unwieldy
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
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