unwieldy
Advancedzipf 2.81Pronunciation
/ʌnˈwiːldi/(un-WEEL-dee)
Part of speech
adjectiveneutral
Chinese
笨重的;难以操作的;庞大复杂的
Definition
Difficult to move, manage, or handle because of size, shape, or complexity.
Word family
- unwieldiness/ʌnˈwiːldɪnəs/(n)笨重
Collocations
- unwieldy system
- unwieldy bureaucracy
- unwieldy device
- unwieldy process
Examples
- 1.The old database system had become unwieldy and slow. (difficult to manage)
- 2.She struggled to carry the unwieldy package up the stairs. (bulky, hard to handle)
Synonyms
- cumbersome/ˈkʌmbəsəm/— heavy and hard to move
- bulky/ˈbʌlki/— large and awkward
- clunky/ˈklʌŋki/— heavy and inefficient, informal
Etymology
un- (not) + wieldy (easy to handle) — from "wield" (to handle) — can't be wielded easily