as in clumsy
difficult to use or operate especially because of size, weight, or design
an unwieldy machine that requires two people to operate it
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Recent Examples of unwieldy
One thing German writer-director Tom Tykwer has never lacked is ambition, evidenced by his willingness to tackle sprawling, thematically unwieldy literary source material like Cloud Atlas and A Hologram for the King.
—
David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 13 Feb. 2025
While most look for ways to avoid the steady rain falling from atmospheric rivers, some take advantage of the unwieldy weather patterns to improve forecasts and to help control, and ultimately modernize, the complex labyrinth of waterways hydrating California.
—Jake Goodrick, Sacramento Bee, 11 Feb. 2025
In modern cars that handle increasingly complex tasks, those domains have led to redundant connections from power sources to electronic control units (ECUs), and an unwieldy octopus of wiring that stretches to all four corners of the vehicle.
—IEEE Spectrum, 11 Feb. 2025
Both situations feature an unwieldy acronym, and both are treated with equal gravity.
—Bethy Squires, Vulture, 7 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for unwieldy
David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 13 Feb. 2025
While most look for ways to avoid the steady rain falling from atmospheric rivers, some take advantage of the unwieldy weather patterns to improve forecasts and to help control, and ultimately modernize, the complex labyrinth of waterways hydrating California.
—Jake Goodrick, Sacramento Bee, 11 Feb. 2025
In modern cars that handle increasingly complex tasks, those domains have led to redundant connections from power sources to electronic control units (ECUs), and an unwieldy octopus of wiring that stretches to all four corners of the vehicle.
—IEEE Spectrum, 11 Feb. 2025
Both situations feature an unwieldy acronym, and both are treated with equal gravity.
—Bethy Squires, Vulture, 7 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for unwieldy
Recent Examples of Synonyms for unwieldy
Adjective
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What starts with a clumsy confession that threatened to derail their relationship altogether, ends with Mark and Helly closer than ever.—
Ben Travers,
IndieWire,
21 Feb. 2025
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Accompanied by her clumsy cameraman Manu (Jean-Baptiste Shelmerdine), colorful investigations ensue.—
Jesse Whittock,
Deadline,
19 Feb. 2025
Adjective
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At the time Stott suffered the injury, during an awkward swing in a mid-May series at Miami, the Phillies were already facing life without shortstop Trea Turner.—
Matt Gelb,
The Athletic,
18 Feb. 2025
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Where some toiletry bags end up having an awkward shape that won’t easily fit into your luggage, these are the opposite.—
Lydia Mansel,
Travel + Leisure,
18 Feb. 2025
Adjective
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The weight of his five-year, $215 million deal became a cumbersome riddle the front office couldn’t solve.—
Julia Poe,
Chicago Tribune,
3 Feb. 2025
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Public insurance adjusters may start reaching out to affected homeowners offering help through the cumbersome claims process and promising to get them the most money possible.—
Ryan Fonseca,
Los Angeles Times,
15 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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Examples imported from 1975 through 1985 had rather ungainly impact bumpers, so early, chrome-bumper cars are aesthetically more desirable.—
Robert Ross,
Robb Report,
21 Feb. 2025
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You're locked into an ungainly, spread armed, weak kneed Character: snowplow.—
Outside Online,
Outside Online,
19 Feb. 2025
Adjective
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The pizza guy Consider the outrage that is the federal employee retirement system, a clunky program that Musk recently highlighted.—
Zeynep Tufekci,
The Mercury News,
25 Feb. 2025
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Many companies assume all technology solutions will integrate seamlessly, only to realize too late that a vendor’s API is clunky, support is weak or scalability is an issue.—
Karan Jain,
Forbes,
25 Feb. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Unwieldy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unwieldy. Accessed 3 Mar. 2025.
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