How to use clunky in a sentence

11 example sentences · adjective

Clunky means ungainly; awkward; inelegant; cumbersome. Example: “That tomboy's clothing is rather clunky.”

Examples of clunky by meaning

adjectiveUngainly; awkward; inelegant; cumbersome.

That tomboy's clothing is rather clunky.
Independence Party, and from the left by his Liberal Democrat coalition partners — the move seemed uncharacteristically clunky.2013 May 23, Sarah Lyall, “British Leader’s Liberal Turn Sets Off a Rebellion in His Party”, in New York Times, retrieved 29 May 2013

adjectiveBeing or making a clunk sound.

Is it a cheap tinny sound or a strong clunky sound like the VW?2012, Mike Brent, Fiona Dent, The Leader's Guide to Influence

More sentences with clunky

There were Starmerisms: clunky identity politics, a nod to being working class.2024 July 5, Tim Stanley, “Sunak sulked, Starmer soothed and Farage show was so shambolic it might have been run by chimpanzees”, in The…. From the entry Starmerism
Clarkson sees those airballs as a metaphor for Bryant’s clunky start against the Jazz two decades later.2021 April 13, Bill Oram, “Remembering Kobe Bryant’s final game: Five years later, five untold stories about the Lakers legend’s 60-point…. From the entry airball
Robertson’s droll conducting of “A Musical Joke,” Mozart’s intentionally clunky and satirical minisymphony.2009 April 6, Anthony Tommasini, “Is That in Your Job Description, Maestro?”, in New York Times. From the entry minisymphony
It's not the helo's fault, even if it is clunkier than a stumblebum old poke of a plow horse—bless its rotors.2019, M. L. Buchman, At the Slightest Sound. From the entry poke
Today, when I’m sure it hit mid-80s in the city, Margot is wearing a knee-length black dress, fishnetty tights, and clunky shoes.2011, Kilian Betlach, “Fourth First Day”, in We Are Almost Always on the Verge, San Francisco, Calif.: Mutiny Pressings, →ISBN, page 120. From the entry fishnetty
Not like the clunky old dunger without a working heater I had to battle with on a previous occasion in the dead of winter.2007, Martz Witty, Ian McBride, Hit the Road Running. From the entry dunger
That culture waned in the late 80's and the 90's —remember Jerry Seinfeld in his clunky, generic white sneakers— but now the sneakerhead is back.2004 July 11, Richard A. Martin, “The Rebirth of the New York Sneakerhead”, in The New York Times, →ISSN. From the entry sneakerhead
Siri ran into technological hurdles, including clunky code that took weeks to update with basic features, said John Burkey, a former Apple engineer who worked on the assistant.2023 March 15, Brian X. Chen, Nico Grant, Karen Weise, “How Siri, Alexa and Google Assistant Lost the A.I. Race”, in The New York Times…. From the entry roadblock

Meaning of clunky

adjective Ungainly; awkward; inelegant; cumbersome.
adjective Being or making a clunk sound.

Full definition of clunky

Questions about clunky in a sentence

How do you use clunky in a sentence?: Clunky is used as an adjective. For example: “That tomboy's clothing is rather clunky.”
What is a short sentence with clunky?: “That tomboy's clothing is rather clunky.”
What does clunky mean?: Clunky means ungainly; awkward; inelegant; cumbersome.

Adapted from Wiktionary: clunky (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Cite this page: “How to use clunky in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/clunky. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.