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unwieldy

un·wieldy

UK/ˌʌnˈwɪəl.di/ US/ʌˈnwildi/ uncommon obsolete

adjective

1.

difficult to use or handle or manage because of size or weight or shape

  • “we set about towing the unwieldy structure into the shelter”
  • “almost dropped the unwieldy parcel”
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2.

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”
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Origin

From Middle English unweldy, equivalent to un- + wieldy. Cognate with Old Frisian unweldich, unweldech (“having no power, involuntary”), Middle Dutch onweldich (“having no control or mastery over”), Middle Low German unweldich (“unwieldy”). Compare also Old High German unwaltīg (“powerless”), whence Middle High German unwaltic, German ungewaltig (“powerless, unmighty”).

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.