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ungainly

UK/ʌnˈɡeɪnli/US/ʌnˈɡeɪnli/
adjectiveC1Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #14,600 of 15,258leans written

Ungainly means awkward and clumsy in movement. An ungainly walk, ungainly and tall, an ungainly machine.

It describes how something moves rather than how it looks standing still. The gainly in it is a lost word meaning graceful or handy, from an Old Norse root — so ungainly survives without its positive, like unkempt and disgruntled.

Definitions of ungainly

  1. 1adjectiveungainlyAwkward and clumsy in movement.C1

    “The newborn foal took a few ungainly steps on its long, wobbly legs.”

ungainly is a quality of movement.

Where it comes from

Un- plus gainly, a lost word meaning graceful or convenient, from Old Norse gegn, serviceable.

  1. Old Norse

    gegn — fit, serviceable; direct, straight; honest; kindly

  2. English, today

    ungainly

Built from

  • gain · English — dexterous; convenient, easy, handy; suitable

From un + gainly (from gain (“dexterous; convenient, easy, handy; suitable”), from Old Norse gegn (“fit, serviceable; direct, straight; honest; kindly”) + -ly). Compare Norwegian Nynorsk ugjegnleg (“stubborn; troublesome”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in A Song of Ice and Fire

Practise this word

ungainly in the wild

  • The prototype appears ungainly, but the inventor proposes that the system may be useful in microscopic-sized machines (MEMS).

    Square wheel

  • A contemporary and rival of Eric Bristow, Bob Anderson and John Lowe, Wilson's ungainly appearance and rough-hewn lifestyle belied his prowess in the sport.

    Jocky Wilson

  • Hynes Memorial Auditorium, also a convention center, built in 1963 during the Massachusetts Turnpike expansion from Route 128 to the Central Artery, which was regarded as "ungainly".

    Hynes Convention Center

  • However, the concept produced an ungainly and ultimately unsuccessful type.

    General Aircraft Fleet Shadower

  • The F.170 could carry up to eight passengers and had a somewhat ungainly appearance.

    Farman F.170 Jabiru

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.