unwieldy: [14] Unwieldy originally meant ‘weak, feeble’ (‘a toothless, old, impotent, and unwieldy woman’, Reginald Scot, Discovery of Witch-craft 1584). The meaning ‘awkward to handle’ developed in the 16th century. The word was based on the now seldom encountered wieldy, which evolved from Old English wielde ‘active, vigorous’. This in turn went back to the Germanic base *walth- ‘have power’, source also of English herald and wield. => herald, wield
late 14c., "lacking strength, powerless," from un- (1) "not" + obsolete wieldy, from Old English wielde "active, vigorous," from Proto-Germanic *walth- "have power" (see wield (v.)). Meaning "moving ungracefully" is recorded from 1520s; in reference to weapons, "difficult to handle, awkward by virtue of size or shape" it is attested from 1540s. Related: Unwieldiness.
双语例句
1. They came panting up to his door with their unwieldy baggage.
他们提着笨重的行李气喘吁吁地来到他门口。
来自柯林斯例句
2. His firm must contend with the unwieldy Russian bureaucracy.
他的公司必须与俄罗斯庞大的官僚机构周旋。
来自柯林斯例句
3. This machine is too unwieldy to move.
这台机器太笨重了,很难搬动.
来自《简明英汉词典》
4. Her two guns were too unwieldy for accurate shooting.
