different between ungainly vs bungling

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /?n??e?nli/
• Hyphenation: un?gain?ly

Etymology 1

un- (“prefix meaning ‘not’”) +? gainly (“graceful; becoming; proper, suitable; gracious, kindly”) (from gain (“dexterous; convenient, easy, handy; suitable”), from Old Norse gegn (“fit, serviceable; direct, straight; honest; kindly”) + -ly (“suffix forming adjectives from nouns”)). Compare dialectal Norwegian Nynorsk ugjegnleg (“stubborn; troublesome”).

Adjective

ungainly (comparative ungainlier or more ungainly, superlative ungainliest or most ungainly)

1. Clumsy; lacking grace.
   • 1962, Edward [Ronald] Weismiller, chapter XI, in The Serpent Sleeping, New York, N.Y.: Putnam, ?OCLC; republished London; Portland, Or.: Frank Cass Publishers, 1998, ?ISBN, page 169:

     His body, though thin, looked oversized and ungainly, his limbs poorly knit together; he appeared to conquer his tendency to awkwardness by making only the smallest, most deliberate of movements.

2. Difficult to move or to manage; unwieldy.
3. (obsolete) Unsuitable; unprofitable.

Alternative forms

• ungainlie (obsolete)

Derived terms

• ungainliness

Translations

Noun

ungainly (plural ungainlies)

1. (rare) An ungainly person or thing.

Etymology 2

ungain (from un- + gain (“dexterous; convenient, easy, handy; suitable”)) +? -ly.

Adverb

ungainly (comparative ungainlier or more ungainly, superlative ungainliest or most ungainly)

1. (obsolete) In an ungainly or unbecoming manner; improperly; undeservedly, unduly; unsuitably.

Anagrams

• guanylin, unlaying

English

Etymology

From the verb bungle.

Adjective

bungling (comparative more bungling, superlative most bungling)

1. Incompetent or inept.

   Harry made a bungling attempt to catch the ball.

Noun

bungling (plural bunglings)

1. An act of incompetence or ineptitude.

   Your bungling nearly cost us our jobs.

Translations

Verb

bungling

1. present participle of bungle

Anagrams

• blunging