1Difficult to carry or move because of its size, shape, or weight.
‘the first mechanical clocks were large and unwieldy’
‘So the books that you read shouldn't be too unwieldy in weight, nor contain particularly tight typesetting or small font size.’
‘The mask's unwieldy construction made it difficult to fall asleep.’
‘But their size makes them unwieldy in city streets, and their acceleration is not tremendous.’
‘It was becoming increasingly difficult to hide his unwieldy bulk.’
‘As a downside, they're rather hot and unwieldy, being difficult to remove in a hurry.’
‘It is about to become a very long, heavy, unwieldy and unreliable train, one that the traditional Franco-German engine will not be able to pull alone.’
‘I've just opened an invitation to a launch party, which was encased in the sharpest, heaviest, most unwieldy envelope in the western world.’
‘Their balance is incredible, but you understand it when you see them herding horses with their long willow poles, which are so heavy and unwieldy.’
‘A one-handed lift can be used for picking up all objects except the heaviest or most unwieldy items.’
‘It was bulky, unwieldy and would not go far, given the cost of satellite transponders.’
‘The elephant, unwieldy and awkward yet graceful and powerful, becomes an allegory for the form itself.’
‘His handcrafted planks are anything but dense and unwieldy.’
‘The sledge hammer my father used was as unwieldy as ever, so I began with the smaller toys, smashing them with the joy of a titan.’
‘True, his bike was unwieldy by modern standards, weighing 57 lb, but it was, and is, clearly the world's first such machine.’
‘Over time, with the emergence of smaller houses to suit the nuclear family, they were discarded as unwieldy and old fashioned.’
‘Accompanied by bugles, two picadors then make their way out, their horses sheathed in an unwieldy but effective armour.’
‘It's more expensive, and from personal experience, somewhat unwieldy, but it may help solve your problem.’
‘It also sounds like the noise that the aforementioned primary school child would make if they were given an unwieldy cello with which to hone their skills.’
‘The RX helicopter gently lowers its unwieldy load like a mother lying her child on the ground.’
‘Large books, he advises, are often costly and somewhat unwieldy.’
1.1(of a system or bureaucracy) too big or badly organized to function efficiently.
‘the benefits system is unwieldy and unnecessarily complex’
‘Fiba is an unwieldy bureaucracy that is not much concerned with policing its teams.’
‘Critics say the plan would create an unwieldy bureaucracy with a hidden agenda.’
‘The project of fixing our political system is an unwieldy one for those of us with a theoretical bent.’
‘Paper ballots and physical presence in the polling station make the system too unwieldy to hack.’
‘While this would be less unwieldy than a system of financial payments, it is still not ideal.’
‘This presupposes a reasonably developed infrastructure and thus a system less unwieldy than that of the United Nations.’
‘The Roman empire had maintained an unwieldy and elaborate tax system, based mainly on landed property and its agricultural exploitation.’
‘Last year, he, frustrated by the unwieldy size of the board of directors, decided he would quit.’
‘What is dismaying is that the salary bill and the administrative costs go on rising, which means the size of the government continues to be unwieldy.’
‘But you soon realise big organisations are unwieldy.’
‘The large and unwieldy, Department of Human Resources Canada has been broken up into two departments.’
‘In 2001, he inherited a large and unwieldy agency in post-Cold War drift.’
‘Having all 12 clubs at a monthly meeting has proved unwieldy, so a smaller board will meet monthly with a general meeting taking place every two months.’
‘The president of the union Siptu also voiced concern that the negotiations would become unwieldy.’
‘The Cabinet already looked unwieldy for a population so small and which needed instead a lean and mean Cabinet to start delivering.’
‘It also criticised it for not reacting to signals from the market place and for having a structure that's too unwieldy and fragmented.’
‘He admitted the CFP was a ‘very unwieldy piece of legislation’ but insisted that progress was being made.’
‘The fear was that such a big country was so unwieldy that there would be a tendency for a central authoritarian ruler to emerge.’
‘They expect him to cut the unwieldy board by 10, give the public a bigger voice.’
‘As cavalry platoons became too unwieldy, they were finally replaced by smaller paired tank and scout platoons.’
Origin
Late Middle English (in the sense ‘lacking strength, infirm’): from un-‘not’ + wieldy (in the obsolete sense ‘active’).
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