-dē, -di adjective
also un·wield·ly -dlē, -li
Etymology: unwieldy from Middle English unweldy, from un- (I) + weldy wieldy; unwieldly alteration (influenced by -ly ) of unwieldy
1. obsolete : characterized by debility : feeble , infirm
time the taste destroys, with sickness and unwieldy years — John Dryden
2.
a. : hard to handle or control : awkward , cumbersome
the increasingly unwieldy colonial organization — Marjory S. Douglas
on the unwieldy circus train the going is tedious and filled with fits and starts — R.L.Taylor
b. : not useful or workable : involved , impractical
some of its rules are so unwieldy that many of the simplest things … are often the most difficult to prove — B.N.Cardozo
brilliant hypotheses and all too often unwieldy ideas — D.M.Schneider
3.
a. : disproportionately large or clumsy : ungainly
his unwieldy mouth wearing the jealous leer proper to his profession — Herbert Gold
any word becomes unwieldy … when its spread of emotional sail overbalances the lead and oak that ought to carry cargo — Archibald MacLeish
b. : massive in size : huge , hulking
heaved his unwieldy figure out of his chair — Moray Firth
discourage unwieldy … corporate surpluses — F.D.Roosevelt