Clunkiest

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Exhibiting the highest level of unattractiveness or awkwardness in movement or appearance
2. Showing the greatest degree of awkward or uncoordinated movement or appearance
3. Being the most cumbersome or lacking in smoothness in motion or design

Etymology: "Clunkiest" is the superlative of "clunky," so its history is really the history of the adjective it modifies. "Clunky" is formed from "clunk," an imitative word for a heavy, dull knocking or thudding sound, with the common adjective-forming suffix "-y" added to it. The sense of something that moves or looks heavy, noisy and awkward, as if it were clanking along, grows naturally out of that sound. The suffix does most of the work here. Many English adjectives ending in "-y" were built from sound words and nouns in exactly this way, and "clunky" follows that pattern rather than being a special case. Its meaning shifted from the literal noise to the physical and figurative clumsiness that the adjective carries today.

Synonyms: awkwardest, heaviest, bulkiest, cumbersome, ungainliest

Antonyms: graceful, elegant, lightest, nimblest, smoothest