Crossword clues for ungainly
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
The Collaborative International Dictionary
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.]
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Not gainly; not expert or dexterous; clumsy; awkward; uncouth; as, an ungainly strut in walking.
His ungainly figure and eccentric manners.
--Macaulay. Unsuitable; unprofitable. [Obs.]
--Hammond.
Ungainly \Un*gain"ly\, adv. In an ungainly manner.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
1610s, "unfit, improper," from Middle English ungeinliche, from ungein (late 14c.) "inconvenient, disagreeable, troublesome," from un- (1) "not" + gein "kind, helpful; reliable; beneficial; suitable, appropriate; convenient," from Old Norse gegn "straight, direct, helpful," from Proto-Germanic *gagina "against" (see again). Old English had ungænge "useless, vain."
Wiktionary
a. 1 clumsy; lacking grace. 2 difficult to move or to manage; unwieldy. 3 (context obsolete English) unsuitable; unprofitable
WordNet
adj. 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]
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]
Usage examples of "ungainly".
At the north side, abutting from the ridge, the Crocodile reared its ungainly shape like some petrified antediluvian monster appointed to guard the valley.
Tucker shot to his feet, with none of the ungainly awkwardness that usually marked his movements.
Reuben, as at that moment the door opened and a tall, ungainly young dalesman, with red hair and with a dogged expression of face, entered the inn.
Even so I deemed, and withal I was sorry for him, for though he were uncouth and ungainly, he was no ill man.
Persimmon Sea flew the Suaniset utility vehicle, an ungainly Apex A-15, lacking all style or flair and Schaine suspected that Gerd Jemasze intended nothing less than a demonstration of contempt for the fads of Olanje.
In addition to the waterbucks that had fled Lake Kiboko, I saw gazelles, wildebeest, zebras, and ungainly giraffids with antlers like massive human pelvises.
Uriah Heep -- tall, ungainly, storklike, with a demeanor that veered uncomfortably between childlike arrogance and bourgeois obsequiousness.
At their approach, the buzzards hopped off the carcasses, then lumbered into flight with an ungainly flapping of wings.
For a moment or so, Fidelma stood watching her ungainly carriage as Necht made her way into the darkness of the abbey corridors.
He gazed about the interior of the noser, conscious of the ungainly piles of clothing, books, records, kitchen appliances, typewriter, medical supplies, pictures, wear-forever couch covers, chess set, reference tapes, communications gear and junk, junk, junk.
One glanced off his shoulder without penetrating and Ruffy shrugged at it, then launched himself up and out, falling in an ungainly heap of arms and legs to hit the water with a splash.
Her bows swung clear swiftly, her sails filled and she bore away, leaving the galleon wallowing, her flapping sails taken all aback, making ungainly sternway.
The five ungainly pairs of host-and-handlingers soared straight up and out, away from each other at speed, disappearing towards Ludmead and Mog Hill, Syriac and Flyside and Sheck, swallowed up by the impure, streetlamp-stained night sky, the blind bearing the afraid.
Its ungainly gait started out weary and progressed through plodding to staggering until eventually Sharantyr tired of its plaintive snorting and tottering progress and swung herself down from its back.
He waited while Helbah changed herself into an ungainly swoosh and Katbah into a batbird.