Literary notes about unwieldy (AI summary)
In literary works, “unwieldy” is often employed to evoke a sense of heaviness or clumsiness—whether referring to physical objects, human figures, or even abstract constructs. Authors describe a device or vehicle as “unwieldy” to emphasize its cumbersome, hard-to-manage nature, as when a massive machine or vessel defies easy control [1, 2]. Similarly, characters are occasionally depicted in terms that highlight their awkward bulk, such as a gentleman whose very physicality betrays a lack of grace or agility [3, 4]. Beyond the literal, the adjective also serves as a metaphor for unwieldy organizations or concepts that are too sprawling or complex to operate efficiently, underscoring the challenges inherent in managing vast or overambitious systems [5, 6, 7]. This usage enriches the narrative by subtly conveying the impracticality of certain forms or ideas, thereby deepening the reader's engagement with the text.
- By my direction, however, the head of his unwieldy machine was so critically pointed,
— from Memoirs of Fanny Hill by John Cleland - As the day began to dawn, greyly and drearily, a large, unwieldy Spanish galleon entered the South Sound, about half a league outside of Trawkeera.
— from Grace O'Malley, Princess and Pirate by Robert Machray - Martin, stout and unwieldy, lost his balance and stumbled over the bench, at which an apprentice was working, and on to the ground.
— from The Serapion Brethren, Vol. I. by E. T. A. (Ernst Theodor Amadeus) Hoffmann - ‘The unwieldy old man, lowering his big forehead like an ox under a yoke, made an effort to rise, clutching at the flintlock pistols on his knees.
— from Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad - " The telephone arrived in time to prevent big corporations from being unwieldy and aristocratic.
— from The History of the Telephone by Herbert Newton Casson - Despotism could no longer govern so unwieldy a machine; a republic would be still less likely to hold it together.
— from The Letters of Horace Walpole, Earl of Orford — Volume 4 by Horace Walpole - But as long as the American Republic continues united, this unwieldy mass of twenty-four states can never become dangerous.
— from The Americans as They AreDescribed in a tour through the valley of the Mississippi by Charles Sealsfield