different between ungainly vs graceful

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

Alternative forms

• gracefull (archaic)

Etymology

From Middle English graceful; equivalent to grace +? -ful.

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /???e?sf?l/

Adjective

graceful (comparative more graceful, superlative most graceful)

1. Having or showing grace in movement, shape, or proportion.

2. (computing) Gradual and non-disruptive.

Antonyms

• graceless
• clumsy

Derived terms

• graceful degradation
• gracefulness

Related terms

• grace

See also

• gracious

Translations

Middle English

Etymology

From grace +? -ful.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??ra?sful/

Adjective

graceful

1. (rare, Late Middle English) Giving grace; grace-inducing.
2. (rare, Late Middle English) nice, kindly

Descendants

• English: graceful
• Scots: gracefu

References

• “gr?ceful, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-05-14.