unwieldy

English

Alternative forms

• unwieldly (less common, possibly nonstandard)

Etymology

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”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˌʌnˈwɪəl.di/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Adjective

unwieldy (comparative more unwieldy or (archaic) unwieldier, superlative most unwieldy or (archaic) unwieldiest)

1. (obsolete) Lacking strength; weak.
2. (obsolete) Ungraceful in movement.
3. Difficult to carry, handle, manage or operate because of its size, weight, shape or complexity.

   Synonyms: unmanageable, (archaic) unwieldsome

   Antonym: wieldy

   • 1985, Patrick Moore, Stargazing: Astronomy without a telescope, Aurum Press, →ISBN, page 18:

     However, the constellation of Argo Navis was so huge and unwieldy that in the 1932 revision, the International Astronomical Union committee chopped it up into a keel (Carina), a poop (Puppis) and sails (Vela).

   • 2012, Andrew Martin, Underground Overground: A passenger's history of the Tube, Profile Books, →ISBN, page 175:

     The railways that would be fused to create the unwieldy Northern Line were the City & South London and the Charing Cross, Euston & Hampstead Railway, known as the 'Hampstead Tube'.

   • 2017 February 9, Rob Long, “Why I won’t invest in anything that involves effort”, in The National (UAE)‎:

     Recorded music came in unwieldy packages and odd shapes.

4. Badly managed or operated.

   (Can we add an example for this sense?)

Derived terms

• unwieldiness

Translations

difficult to carry, handle, manage or operate

Bulgarian: неудобен (bg) (neudoben) Catalan: farragós (ca) m, immanejable Chinese: Mandarin: 笨重的 (bènzhòng de) Czech: nešikovný (cs) m, neohrabaný m Danish: uhåndterlig Dutch: log (nl) Esperanto: grandaĉa, maloportuna sg, malpraktika sg, misportenda sg Finnish: kömpelö (fi), hankala (fi) French: encombrant (fr), lourd (fr), peu maniable German: unhandlich, schwerfällig (de), sperrig (de), klobig (de) Hungarian: ormótlan (hu) Irish: liobarnach, anásta Italian: scomodo (it) m, ingombrante (it) Latin: inhabilis Manx: meydlagh, lheibeidjagh, trome, neuyesh Maori: pūhetī, pūwhetī, pūheki, pūwheki Norwegian: tungvinn Bokmål: uhåndterlig, uhandterlig Nynorsk: uhandterleg, ulagleg Plautdietsch: schwoafalich Polish: nieporęczny (pl) Portuguese: imanejável, imanuseável Russian: неподъёмный (ru) (nepodʺjómnyj), неудобный (ru) m (neudobnyj) Spanish: farragoso (es) Swedish: otymplig (sv)

References

• Douglas Harper (2001–2025) “unwieldy”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.