as in clumsy
difficult to use or operate especially because of size, weight, or design
even my five-year-old laptop seems clunky next to some of the really slim new models
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of clunky
There are a wide variety of experimental SLMs, and some are very handy while others are clunky and less appealing.
—
Lance Eliot, Forbes.com, 9 Apr. 2025
At a certain point, phones are phones, and people will turn elsewhere: Huawei’s latest is covered in vegan leather, has three folding screens, and makes my iPhone 15 look like meemaw’s clunky old Mr. Coffee.
—Damon Beres, The Atlantic, 8 Apr. 2025
My reasons remain sound: The software had become clunky, the ads relentless, and the Sabrina Carpenter songs too inescapable.
—Adam Clark Estes, Vox, 20 Mar. 2025
Attention turned to the robot design, which was cartoony right down to the clunky boots.
—Bill Desowitz, IndieWire, 19 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for clunky
Lance Eliot, Forbes.com, 9 Apr. 2025
At a certain point, phones are phones, and people will turn elsewhere: Huawei’s latest is covered in vegan leather, has three folding screens, and makes my iPhone 15 look like meemaw’s clunky old Mr. Coffee.
—Damon Beres, The Atlantic, 8 Apr. 2025
My reasons remain sound: The software had become clunky, the ads relentless, and the Sabrina Carpenter songs too inescapable.
—Adam Clark Estes, Vox, 20 Mar. 2025
Attention turned to the robot design, which was cartoony right down to the clunky boots.
—Bill Desowitz, IndieWire, 19 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for clunky
Recent Examples of Synonyms for clunky
Adjective
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Raw also advertised Bayley challenging Lyra Valkyria for the WWE Women’s Intercontinental Championship, Penta vs. Dominik Mysterio and the world’s most clumsy GM Adam Pearce making his next fumble of the worst storyline going this WrestleMania season between Rhea Ripley, Bianca Belair and Iyo Sky.—
Alfred Konuwa,
Forbes.com,
7 Apr. 2025
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This is why the Trump administration’s DOGE exercise — while clumsy at times — is such an important endeavor despite Democratic efforts to discredit it.—
Editorial,
Boston Herald,
4 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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Sisterhood in sports can come with awkward moments, though.—
Evan Drellich,
New York Times,
7 Apr. 2025
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In fact, the timing of the 11th annual event in Santa Monica made for some awkward — even, some would say, problematic — optics and messaging for these celebrities.—
Martha Ross,
Mercury News,
7 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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As legal professionals gain increasing authority over AI deployment decisions, new internal stakeholders are introduced, making the organizational process of adopting AI systems more cumbersome.—
Nizan Geslevich Packin,
Forbes.com,
28 Mar. 2025
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Like so many others, they are left with an impossible choice: involve the criminal justice system — which may be slow, cumbersome and invasive — or do nothing and hope the situation doesn’t escalate.—
Eric Gonzalez,
New York Daily News,
26 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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Yet any swerve away from Trump’s blessed route risks ending with House Republicans pursuing a vote-of-no-confidence against Johnson, who has so far been impressively steady at the helm of a caucus that is unwieldy at best.—
Philip Elliott,
Time,
7 Apr. 2025
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In the end, the finale may not have entirely redeemed some pacing issues and unwieldy sprawl, but ended strongly enough to make both seem minor in retrospect.—
Alison Herman,
Variety,
7 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Clunky.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/clunky. Accessed 21 Apr. 2025.
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