1
as in uncomfortable
lacking social grace and assurance
inelegant teens still learning how to act at formal events
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in inappropriate
marked by an obvious lack of style or good taste
inelegant furniture that looked like it belonged in a budget motel
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of inelegant
The obvious fix is a little bit of duct tape, an inelegant but quick repair with a resource that most households already have on hand.
—
PC Magazine, 26 Mar. 2025
For such an inelegant behavior to be in chatbots as widespread and popular as GPT is a blunt reminder of two larger, seemingly contrary phenomena.
—Jonathan L. Zittrain, The Atlantic, 17 Dec. 2024
The result has been a competition that has felt, at times, unwieldy and inelegant and exhausting.
—Sam Lee, The Athletic, 12 Dec. 2024
That process is genial and inelegant in equal measure.
—David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 17 Oct. 2024
See All Example Sentences for inelegant
PC Magazine, 26 Mar. 2025
For such an inelegant behavior to be in chatbots as widespread and popular as GPT is a blunt reminder of two larger, seemingly contrary phenomena.
—Jonathan L. Zittrain, The Atlantic, 17 Dec. 2024
The result has been a competition that has felt, at times, unwieldy and inelegant and exhausting.
—Sam Lee, The Athletic, 12 Dec. 2024
That process is genial and inelegant in equal measure.
—David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 17 Oct. 2024
See All Example Sentences for inelegant
Recent Examples of Synonyms for inelegant
Adjective
-
Alexander Skarsgard’s tendency is toward characters who maintain the unavoidable aspect of beauty, but are uncomfortable looking like Alexander Skarsgard, or work to hide their beauty under buckets of blood or threats of abuse.—
Daniel Fienberg,
HollywoodReporter,
12 May 2025
-
What’s undeniable is that the sight of someone who has contributed so much to Liverpool’s success in the modern era being subjected to such treatment on Sunday was deeply uncomfortable.—
James Pearce,
New York Times,
12 May 2025
Adjective
-
Screenshot inappropriate gun marketing content and circulate it.—
Sarah Scott,
Parents,
9 May 2025
-
Originally a producer on the project, he was fired for cause after at least one incident of inappropriate behavior on Runner that included bullying and yelling at crew.—
Matt Grobar,
Deadline,
9 May 2025
Adjective
-
For those things that are bigger, or subject to rough forces like clumsy human hands, through-hole soldering is still required, with leads poked through a connective hole and solder applied to connect and join them securely.—
ArsTechnica,
ArsTechnica,
30 Apr. 2025
-
The rubber sole is also important for clumsy gals like myself.—
Alyssa Grabinski,
People.com,
12 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
Common factors that contribute to misconfigurations include: • Human Error: Typing mistakes, syntax errors or incorrect command sequences.—
Alexander Britkin,
Forbes.com,
9 May 2025
-
That is the correct decision for her and her game, but also the incorrect decision for all of us at home watching a television program.—
Brian Moylan,
Vulture,
8 May 2025
Adjective
-
There was an awkward overhead in the third game that Sinner couldn’t meet square on.—
Matthew Futterman,
New York Times,
13 May 2025
-
But the timing of the Rockies’ decision was awkward.—
Patrick Saunders,
Denver Post,
12 May 2025
Adjective
-
But regulations that apply to traditional markets are unsuitable for digital native assets like crypto and digital assets.—
Lawrence Wintermeyer,
Forbes.com,
1 May 2025
-
The vacant land, which was largely unsuitable for agriculture, became an albatross over the next few decades.—
Mark Dent,
HubSpot,
25 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
These chewy ginger candies are her secret weapon for taming an uneasy stomach naturally.—
Rosie Marder,
Travel + Leisure,
9 May 2025
-
The Wall Street firm predicted that international institutional investors could be rethinking their appetite and risk-reward in U.S. investments as the current uneasy macroenvironment keeps them on edge.—
Yun Li,
CNBC,
8 May 2025
Adjective
-
The movie takes its title for the unfashionable floater of a nearly unhittable pitch, long, high and vexing.—
Michael Phillips,
Chicago Tribune,
20 Mar. 2025
-
King-Hammond suggested yet another factor: his focus on people, and not formalist ideas, was unfashionable in the eyes of art history’s shapers.—
Alex Greenberger,
ARTnews.com,
25 Feb. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Inelegant.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/inelegant. Accessed 16 May. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share