different between ungainly vs inelegant

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

• unelegant

Etymology

From Middle French inélégant, from Latin in?leg?ns; equivalent to in- +? elegant.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?n??l???nt/

Adjective

inelegant (comparative more inelegant, superlative most inelegant)

1. Not elegant; not exhibiting neatness, refinement, or precision.

Synonyms

• (unfashionable): démodé, passé, unchic; see also Thesaurus:unfashionable
• (graceless): clumsy, graceless, haphazard

Translations

Anagrams

• Galentine, eglantine, elegantin, legantine

Catalan

Etymology

From Latin in?leg?ns.

Adjective

inelegant (masculine and feminine plural inelegants)

1. inelegant

   Antonym: elegant

Related terms

• elegant
• inelegància

Further reading

• “inelegant” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “inelegant” in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana.
• “inelegant” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “inelegant” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Romanian

Etymology

From French inélégant.

Adjective

inelegant m or n (feminine singular inelegant?, masculine plural inelegan?i, feminine and neuter plural inelegante)

1. inelegant

Declension