1
as in uncomfortable
lacking social grace and assurance
inelegant teens still learning how to act at formal events
Synonyms & Similar Words
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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
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of inelegant
That process is genial and inelegant in equal measure.
—
David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 17 Oct. 2024
The best Korean moisturizers and sunscreens introduced an American audience to the possibilities beyond staid formulations and inelegant sun protection, offering brand-new active ingredients, playful packaging, and innovative technology.
—Deanna Pai, Vogue, 28 Sep. 2024
In practice, these features are a bit wonky and inelegant.
—Victoria Song, The Verge, 21 Sep. 2024
Until recently, most observers were willing to settle for an accurate but inelegant description: that the countries are neither friends nor foes.
—Minxin Pei, Foreign Affairs, 12 Feb. 2014
See All Example Sentences for inelegant
Recent Examples of Synonyms for inelegant
Adjective
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Healthy arrogance is a term that makes some people uncomfortable.—
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From tornadoes to mudslides and floods and more floods, Kentucky has endured an unlucky streak, stretching back too many uncomfortable years to count, of being pounded by one climate disaster after another.—
Adjective
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Louden does and says things that are inappropriate in the film.—
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Many thought her outfit choice was inappropriate for such a historic occasion in the rotunda of the U.S. Capitol.—
Adjective
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What starts with a clumsy confession that threatened to derail their relationship altogether, ends with Mark and Helly closer than ever.—
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Take a deep breath because these claims form just one part of a clumsy web of viral content, in which Ronaldo, Messi and their children are part of the collateral.—
Adjective
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Many of those who have lost insurance missed form deadlines or had an incorrect address, while others no longer met the eligibility criteria.—
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Wednesday's edition included incorrect information about King's votes.—
Adjective
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Comfortable familiarity and an awkward desire to escape co-exist like the two quotes at the start, both true in incongruous harmony.—
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Where some toiletry bags end up having an awkward shape that won’t easily fit into your luggage, these are the opposite.—
Adjective
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So, with the names in play unsuitable, and no speed merchants on the trade block, does Oilers GM Stan Bowman pivot to another player type?—
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The following year, regulators ruled that the company was unsuitable to operate its casinos in Sydney and Queensland, placing them under government supervision.—
Adjective
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Bochner began working in the wake of Abstract Expressionism, whose emphasis on artistic genius, painterly excellence, and formalism left many of his generation feeling uneasy.—
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Arms control advocates, as well as a significant portion of liberal policymakers, fear doing so undermines the uneasy trust of mutual vulnerability and encourages nuclear foes to develop dangerous new technologies to defeat defense systems.—
Adjective
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It's never really been unfashionable to wear a bow in your hair; it's just been extra-super-trendy for the last year or two.—
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There were also dozens more Baroque paintings, many dating to the seventeenth century and acquired in the nineteen-eighties and nineties, when such works were unfashionable.—
Cite this Entry
“Inelegant.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/inelegant. Accessed 27 Feb. 2025.
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