unwieldy

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   difficult to work or manipulate

   Unwieldy rules and regulations.

2. 2
   adj

   difficult to use or handle or manage because of size or weight or shape

   We set about towing the unwieldy structure into the shelter.

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Simplified etymology

Unwieldy combines un- with an obsolete sense of wieldy meaning “active,” derived from Old English wield, “to rule or direct.” Its earliest recorded meaning was “weak” or “infirm”; the familiar sense “large and awkward in shape” dates from the late 16th century.

From Middle English unweldy, equivalent to un- + wieldy. Cognate with Old Frisian unweldich, unweldech (“having no power, involuntary”), Middle Dutch onweldich (“having no control or mastery over”), Middle Low German unweldich (“unwieldy”). Compare also Old High German unwaltīg (“powerless”), whence Middle High German unwaltic, German ungewaltig (“powerless, unmighty”).

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