| 释义 |
[ uhn-geyn-lee ] / ʌnˈgeɪn li / SEE SYNONYMS FOR ungainly ON THESAURUS.COM
adjective, un·gain·li·er, un·gain·li·est.not graceful; awkward; unwieldy; clumsy: an ungainly child; an ungainly prose style. Origin of ungainly1150–1200; (adv.) Middle English ungeinliche, equivalent to un-un- 1 + later Middle English geyn straight, well-disposed, handy (<Old Norse gegn straight, direct; compare Old Norse ūgegn unreasonable) + -liche-ly; (adj.) un- 1 + obsolete gainly proper, becoming, gracious, Middle English gaynlych ( geyn as above + -lych-ly); cf. gainly, again OTHER WORDS FROM ungainlyun·gain·li·ness, nounWords nearby ungainlyunfunny, unfurl, unfurnished, unfussy, ung., ungainly, Ungaretti, Ungava, Ungava Bay, Ungava Peninsula, ungenerous Dictionary.com UnabridgedBased on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020 Example sentences from the Web for ungainlyA 36-story tower designed by Rafael Vinoly nicknamed the “walkie-talkie” curves outward as it rises, ungainly and jarring. Imagining Prince Charles as King Makes All of Britain Wish They Could Leave Like Scotland|Clive Irving|September 17, 2014|DAILY BEAST This ungainly man soon percolated in my own melancholic imagination. Making Lincoln Sexy: Jerome Charyn’s Fictional President|Tom LeClair|March 6, 2014|DAILY BEAST I imagine he made an ungainly lunge at her, which she again rejected and which left her seriously upset. Beethoven in Love: The Woman Who Captivated the Young Composer|John Suchet|January 26, 2014|DAILY BEAST But in their ungainly, old fashioned ways, books and records beat their digital equivalents in every category but convenience. New Pew Poll Finds That E-Books Are Booming but Print Holds Its Own|Malcolm Jones|January 19, 2014|DAILY BEAST
It has lost some of its ungainly enthusiasm, its sloppy joy, its achingly self-conscious hipster attitude. The Look That Defined Fashion Week|Robin Givhan|September 16, 2011|DAILY BEAST He had a tall, ungainly figure, made more ungainly by his odd, absent ways; but withal he was an unmistakable gentleman. Mrs. Overtheway's Remembrances|Juliana Horatia Ewing In the distance passes and disappears the ungainly figure of an ostrich. The Desert World|Arthur Mangin Outside they met Jim Heron, a tall, ungainly man who glared at them with piercing eyes. Gypsies of the Air|Bess Moyer She had not a good feature, not even a good point about her ungainly figure. The Children's Pilgrimage|L. T. Meade One described it as an “ungainly craft looking precisely like a backwoods sawmill mounted on a scow and set on fire.” Historic Inventions|Rupert S. Holland
British Dictionary definitions for ungainly
adjective -lier or -liestlacking grace when moving difficult to move or use; unwieldy rare crude or coarse Derived forms of ungainlyungainliness, nounWord Origin for ungainlyC17: from un- 1 + obsolete or dialect gainly graceful Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012 Words related to ungainlylumbering, awkward, bulky, clumsy, unwieldy, gawky, graceless, uncoordinated, ungraceful, klutzy, heavy, unmanageable, clunky, lanky, loutish, maladroit, stiff, uncouth, wooden |